


Calling All Skeletons

by yourfavoritetsundre



Series: The Romance of Ziggy Stardust and Fun Ghoul [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Established Relationship, Fatherhood, Gangs, M/M, Making Up, Missing Persons, My Chemical Romance References, Post-Canon, References to David Bowie, Road Trips, Romance, Unresolved Tension, i still don't know how to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-01-29 12:31:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 36,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21410230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourfavoritetsundre/pseuds/yourfavoritetsundre
Summary: “Wormhole? What? No!” Hunk reached forward and hit the back of Lance’s seat. “Lance! Turn this ship around right now!”“No can do, buddy.” Lance said. “Garrison is on our tail, Keith is missing, and he took all my stuff with him.”“Ten seconds to wormhole.” Pidge said. “Come on, Hunk, just like old times!”“Oh my God, we’re all gonna die.” Hunk groaned.Lance grinned and gunned it towards the cackling blue energy in the sky. Ready or not, here they come.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: The Romance of Ziggy Stardust and Fun Ghoul [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1543426
Comments: 53
Kudos: 193





	1. These feelings tend to leave me with a hole in my chest

**Author's Note:**

> Literally cannot help myself.

Lance and Keith have a lot of good days. In fact, most of their days are good. Believe it or not, they've hardly had any bad ones.

But this one, this one is the worst. 

Lance doesn’t know how it started, or why it escalated so much. He probably said something stupid, because that’s what he does. And then Keith got angry, because that’s what he does. But now he and Keith are screaming at each other six feet apart outside his parent’s house. The french braid that Rachel had so carefully put in Keith’s hair was coming undone, as if his anger was radiating out of his skull. 

“I thought you wanted that!” Keith screamed across the distance. 

“I do!” Lance yelled back.

Keith threw his hands up. “Then what the hell is the problem? Why are you acting so weird about it?” 

“I’m not ready, okay?” Lance looked at the stars, asking for help. “I can’t just settle down yet!” 

“Lance, it’s not settling down, it’s just having a place we can come back to that’s near your family.” 

Lance looked away. 

“What is so wrong with that? Having somewhere we can come back to, that one day we can have a family in. I thought you always wanted that!” 

“I’m not the same person we were when we were kids, Keith! I’m not...I'm sorry that I'm not what you expected!"

"That's not -"

"You cant just ask me to stay put right now!"

“We’re not doing this right now! We’re trying to plan for our future. We can’t keep...traipsing around the universe playing guitar and blowing shit up!” 

“Oh, that’s rich, coming from you!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Please, like you’re not itching to leave every second. You could barely sit through dinner today.” 

“Ruth was crawling all over me.” 

“Really? It has nothing to do with the fact that we’ve been here for two weeks?” 

Keith looked away. 

Lance let out a long breath, his anger finally fading and being replaced with exhaustion. He walked towards Keith and held out his hands palms up. 

“Babe, just...I need more time. I know you don’t like your place on Daizabaal, but I’m not ready to do Earth full time. It’s just...too much.” 

Keith looked sad, but he nodded. He took one of Lance’s hands and ran a thumb over the lines of his palm.

“Soon.” Lance promised. “We’ll find a place soon.” 

“Yeah, soon.” Keith echoed. 

“Come on.” Lance said quietly. “Lets...let’s get some snacks and head to bed. We can think about where we’re going tomorrow.” 

“Sure.” 

They didn’t go to bed angry that night, but they were both quiet. They didn’t decide what they were doing the next day, but they settled in to watch a movie in bed. Lance found himself falling asleep in Keith’s warm embrace, and waking when Keith moved and slid out of bed. The TV was off and his parent’s guest room was dark. 

“Where you going?” Lance mumbled. 

“Left something on our ship.” Keith whispered. “I’ll be right back.” 

“Gimme a kiss.” 

Lance could practically hear Keith rolling his eyes as he made a fish face. But Keith bent down and gave him a kiss, then slipped out of bed and pulled on a heavy sweater. Lance fell asleep before he came back to bed. 

~*~

But then...Keith wasn’t there when he woke up. And he wasn’t in the living room, where he had been drinking his coffee in the morning, and he wasn’t in the kitchen helping with dishes, and he wasn’t sitting with Mami on the back porch shelling peas. 

Then Lance realized...the ship was gone. 

“Mami!” Lance hollered. 

“Que passe, Leandro?” his mother asked, not looking up from the peas. 

“When did Keith leave?” 

“I haven’t seen him since you two were fighting last night.” 

Lance blushed. “Sorry, Mami.”

“I don’t like it when you fight with my son, Leandro.”

“I’m actually your son!” 

“You get enough attention as it is.”

“Oh, my God.” 

Luis walked out onto the porch. “What are we talking about?” 

Lance turned around. “Have you seen Keith?”

“How much attention Lance is given.” Mami supplied. 

Luis nodded. “It is a shocking amount.” 

“Seriously, where’s Keith?” Lance asked. 

“No idea, baby bro.” 

Lance scowled at the place the spaceship he shared with Keith had been parked for the last week, then took his coffee inside. 

“Mijo, are you going to help me with the sunflowers today?” 

“Yes, Papi.” Lance said, not actually paying attention to what he was agreeing to. “Have you seen Keith?” 

“No, I haven’t. Is he outside?” 

“The ship is gone.”

“Maybe he went to get some fresh air. You were not very nice to him last night.” 

“He wasn’t being nice to me!”

“He wants to buy you a condo! You know what I would give for your mother to buy me a condo?”

“Ugh!” Lance stomped out of the room. “Would the rest of the peanut gallery like to comment on my relationship?”  
  


Veronica appeared out of nowhere. “I thought you’d never ask!” 

Lance rolled his eyes and stomped upstairs and back into the guest room. He picked up his communicator and selected Keith’s contact.

_ Ring ring. _

Lance frowned and looked at the other nightstand. Keith’s communicator was lighting up. 

_ Ring ring. _

Lance ended the call and stared at Keith’s communicator. It wasn’t like Keith to leave it behind. Maybe something had happened…

“Mijo! Come help me with the flowers!”

“Yes, Papi!” 

Lance grabbed his gardening gloves off the top of the dresser, and frowned at the empty bed. He’d turn up. Keith wouldn’t just leave. 

Keith didn’t come back that day, or at night. Even after harvesting hundreds of sunflowers and being rewarded with aching hands and a sunburnt face, Lance hardly got any sleep. He didn’t really wake up as much as he went from staring at the bedroom ceiling to staring at the kitchen ceiling. 

Keith wasn’t back. 

His father roped him into helping milk the cows the next morning. He ate breakfast, and helped clean up. He called Krolia, and she didn’t answer. 

Still no Keith. 

~*~

It took half an hour of begging and pleading to convince Luis to let him borrow his hover car, and in the end it was Mami who said, “Luis just give him what he wants.” Being the baby of the family occasionally pays off. 

Shiro and Curtis had a house near the Garrison complex, but had only put down permanent roots there a few months ago. Mostly because of Allie, the baby girl they had adopted a month ago.

There’s a slim chance that Keith came here the other night, and got held up with taking care of the baby. Allie isn’t even crawling yet and she’s already running her dads ragged. And Lance knows if he calls and Keith is there, Shiro will lie to him. 

When Shiro answers the door, he looks disheveled. His hair is a mess and for the first time in Lance’s memory there’s a stain on his shirt. He can hear Allie crying somewhere in the house. 

“Hey, Lance…”

“Is Keith here?” Lance asked, sidestepping Shiro and inviting himself in. 

“What? No. Lance, now’s not a good time. Allie’s been very fussy, and we think she’s teething - “ 

Lance followed the sounds of the crying baby, pushing aside the nervous energy bubbling up in his stomach. If Keith wasn’t here...where would he have gone? And why didn’t he tell Lance? 

He passed Curtis sprawled back on the couch and sleeping with his mouth open. Lance took the stairs to the second floor with Shiro floating nervously along behind him. In the nursery, Pidge was bouncing Allie on her shoulder. Her little face was split open with an angry howl. 

Pidge turned around and grimaced at the two men. “Oh, hey Lance. Shiro, I’m sorry, she just won’t stop.”

“Give her here.” Lance sighed, holding his arms out. 

Pidge looked relieved to hand the screaming baby over. Lance carried her over to the changing table, snatching up her blanket on the way and laying it flat. Allie howled as Lance lay her down, trying her damndest to kick him with her tiny legs. 

“Oh, I know, life’s so hard.” Lance cooed at her. “One day you’re having everyone fuss over you all the time and feeding you and cleaning your messes, and the next your boyfriend runs off without telling you again.” 

“What?” Pidge asked. 

Lance tightly wrapped the blanket around the tiny body, swaddling her before picking her back up. Somewhere in the middle of the process, the crying stopped. 

“How did you do that?” Shiro whispered in awe. 

“Behold, the magic of the swaddle.” Lance intoned, gently passing the baby to her father. “Being tightly wrapped makes them feel secure, and calm. She’s not teething yet, just wants security.”

Both his friends looked at him in shock. 

Lance rolled his eyes. “Please, every year someone in my family is having a baby. I’ve babysat for relatives since I was eight.” 

Allie yawned and closed her eyes. Shiro gently set her down in her crib, then turned on the monitor strapped to the rail. The three adults left as silently as they could, gently shutting the door behind them. Shiro let out a long breath. 

“I don’t know how I can thank you.” Shiro said. 

“You could tell me where Keith is.” Lance suggested. 

Shiro frowned slightly. “He’s with you. Isn’t he?” 

Lance shook his head. 

“Come on, let’s get away from the nursery, and you can tell me what happened.” 

Lance and Pidge followed Shiro back downstairs, where Curtis was stirring on the couch. The trio passed him and headed for the kitchen. 

“Since when are you their nanny?” Lance asked.

Pidge snorted. “Yeah, right. I came over to fix their baby monitor, and ended up changing diapers.” 

“No wonder Allie started crying.”

“Hey! I’m her favorite.” 

“Obviously not.” 

“What’s this about Keith?” Shiro asked. 

Lance sank into a chair at the kitchen table. “He’s gone, and he left his com and I can’t find him.” 

Shiro sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Keith wouldn’t just leave. Something must have happened.” 

“Are you kidding? Leaving is totally his MO!” Lance put his head down on the table. “But this time he just took the ship and took off. He swore he’d always take me with him. At least give me the option. I’ve stayed behind a few times, but he didn’t even say anything. He just left.” 

Pidge grimaced. “God, I hate Mopey Lance.” 

“Did anything happen the night before?” Shiro asked. “Was he acting strange? Did he get any calls?” 

“No.” Lance said quickly. 

Shiro rose an eyebrow. 

“We had a really bad fight.” Lance muttered, crumbling instantly. “He wants to buy a place here and _ settle _. I’m not ready. He’s not ready. I don’t know why he wants it now.” 

“Did you try asking him?” Shiro asked with a touch of exasperation. “Or did you skip to the part where you were all worked up about it?” 

“You do tend to overreact.” Pidge added unhelpfully. 

“But we were fine!” Lance protested. “We calmed down and we watched a movie. He was humming that stupid song he loves so much. And now he’s gone. I thought maybe he came here but he’s not. I think something bad happened.” 

“Lance, calm down.” Shiro sighed. “I’m sure he’s fine. He probably just had to help the Blades with something and couldn’t take you.” 

“But you don’t know that.” Lance protested. “And Acxa would have picked him up. Why did he take our ship? He wouldn’t have left me stranded here. Shiro, you’ve got to help me.” 

“Help you how?” 

“You need to lend me a ship so I can find him!” 

“What? Lance, no.” 

“Why not?” 

“Look, I don’t know what you and Keith get up to in your spare time. I don’t want to. But you’re technically a civilian now. I can’t just lend you a ship so you can go looking for your boyfriend.” 

“But it’s Keith!” 

“Keith can take care of himself. Seriously. I don’t think he’s missing. I think he got in a fight with his boyfriend and he needed a bit of space.” 

Lance scowled at the older man. “What the hell is the point of being friends with a Garrison Admiral when he won’t lend me a ship?” 

Shiro rolled his eyes. “Right. Nothing to do with my personality, unconditional support or brotherly nature.” 

“You mean fatherly nature.” Pidge corrected. 

“Lance, I’m sure Keith is fine.” Shiro reassured. “I’m sure Krolia just needed him for something and he forgot his comms, and he’ll be back before you know it.” 

“He wouldn’t leave me.” Lance said stubbornly. “Not again.” 

Shiro just sighed. “Lance...I can’t help you. He’s not here, but I’m sure he’ll be back soon.” 

“Great.” Lance said bitterly. “Thanks.” 

Shiro showed Lance and Pidge out, saying he was probably going to join Curtis in his nap. Outside the house, Lance scowled at his brother’s car. 

He understood that Shiro had a lot on his mind, being a new father, but this was Keith! Keith never just left, he usually had some stupid reason for leaving Lance behind. And he said he loved him. He’d have to at least tell him why he was going, right? 

“Lance? You alright?”

Lance looked down into Pidge’s gold eyes and sighed. “No.” 

“I’m sure Keith’s alright.” 

“I’m not worried about his safety.” Lance mumbled. “I can’t believe he’d just leave.” 

“You said it yourself, Lance. It’s his MO. He leaves all the time.” 

“He doesn’t leave without me.” Lance insisted. 

Pidge grimaced and looked away. 

What was he going to do now? Alright, he understood that Shiro couldn’t just give him a ship. But Shiro also didn’t believe anything was wrong, which meant he’d have to wait for everyone else to realize Keith was actually missing for anything to happen. Which could take days. 

And Krolia hadn’t answered his call, cause she never did. She never answered anyone’s calls, not even Keith’s. She preferred to call you. 

“You still want to find Keith?” Pidge asked.

“Of course I do.” 

“I can help you, but you have to take me with you.” 

“What? Absolutely not.” 

“I can handle myself, Lance!”

“I know you can, but if you want to come with it means you’re up to something and I don’t know if I’m prepared to deal with that.”

“Maybe I just wanna help save my friend.” 

“Yeah, not buying it.” 

“Does it really matter? Look, you wanna go find Keith or not?” 

Lance knew he was being rash and his emotions were way too jumbled to think clearly. He was still upset about his fight with Keith, and sad that he was gone, and pissed that he had left, and really seriously annoyed at Shiro. 

So he said, “Yeah, let’s do it.” 

“Great. Meet me under the control tower at eleven.” 

Lance frowned. “We’re not...planning on stealing a Garrison ship and hacking the wormhole generator to get off planet, right?” 

“Would it make a difference if we were?” 

“I mean, no, but I’d like to know what I’m getting into.”

Pidge flashed him a smile. “Then yes, that’s exactly what we’re doing.” 

~*~

Sneaking across the base and into the control tower should have been much harder than it was. But then again, covert ops were Lance’s bread and butter these days. And he had memorized the locations of all the cameras when he was a cadet. 

Getting control of the wormhole generator should have been harder as well, but Pidge had designed half of the tech. It took her all of thirty seconds to connect her laptop to the main system so she could control the generator remotely. 

“Okay, I’m unlocking a ship for us.” Pidge said, typing a command into the main system. “Get ready to move, as soon as we get the ball rolling the command center inside will be alerted. Night shift is pretty sparse, but someone will be there.” 

“Got it.” Lance said, tightening the straps on his backpack. It held two changes of clothes and his favorite twin pistols and charge packs. The rest of his weapons, and his environmental suit, were on the ship Keith had disappeared with. 

Lance was going to murder him when he found him. His favorite socks were on that ship. And his sword. 

“Right, this way.” Pidge said, scooping up her own bag. “Hurry!” 

The pair hurried down the stairs, Lance bouncing off a wall as he turned a corner. They burst through the door at the bottom of the steps, and were immediately blinded by a flashlight in their eyes. 

“Hey! Stop!” someone yelled. 

Lance grabbed Pidge’s arm and yanked her along to the left. They sprinted for the line of ships parked in neat rows, waiting for deployment. Pidge was panting as she counted the ship aloud. Someone was still shouting at them, and the flash light bounced at their feet as they gave chase. 

“Reminds me of Raithura!” Lance panted. 

“One thirty, one thirty-one, I hated Raithura! One thirty-two.” 

Lance huffed out a laugh before Pidge grabbed his elbow and pulled him sharply to the left. 

“Here!”

Lance stopped short. “Oh, hell no.”

“Come on!” Pidge groaned, tugging him towards the open airlock. 

“Pidge, this is a cargo ship!” 

“You always brag about how you can fly anything! I thought it would be fine!”

“I can’t go rescue my boyfriend in a goddamn cargo ship! I’ll never hear the end of it!” 

“We don’t have time for this! Just get in!” 

Pidge pulled on his arm one last time and Lance gave in, stumbling into the ship and wrestling his bag off his back while Pidge slammed a fist onto the door switch. Lance rushed through the small ship and threw himself into the pilot’s seat, trying to refamiliarize himself with the controls. God, it had been almost a decade since he was in one of these. 

Pidge sat in the communications officer’s chair and immediately hooked up her laptop. As Lance fired up the engines, buttons lit up to notify them that someone was trying to call. 

“Pidge? We’re being hailed.”

Pidge popped open a compartment by her knee and ripped out a wire. 

“Nevermind.” Lance muttered, turning forward again. 

Lance put in the flight sequence then grabbed the controls. The ship jerked up into the air. 

“Jesus, Lance!” 

“Sorry! I’m not used to it! Hold on!” 

The ship jerked again, then Lance regained control and soared upwards.

“Aren’t you supposed to be a decorated vetran pilot or something?” 

“Shut up and get the wormhole open before we get shot down.” 

The cockpit door slid open again and an arm with a riffle swung up. “Land the ship, now.” 

Lance turned around in his seat incredulously. “Hunk?” 

“Oh, it’s you two.” Hunk sighed, stepping into the room and falling into the engineer’s chair. “Oh, God, I’m going to be sick.” 

“What are you doing here?” 

Hunk just moaned and felt under his seat for a sick bag. 

“Whatever.” Lance muttered. “Pidge, anytime the wormhole gets fired up would be great.” 

“Wormhole? What? No!” Hunk reached forward and hit the back of Lance’s seat. “Lance! Turn this ship around right now!”

“No can do, buddy.” Lance said. “Garrison is on our tail, Keith is missing, and he took all my stuff with him.”

“Ten seconds to wormhole.” Pidge said. “Come on, Hunk, just like old times!” 

“Oh my God, we’re all gonna die.” Hunk groaned. 

Lance grinned and gunned it towards the cackling blue energy in the sky. Ready or not, here they come.

** _Here it is again yet it stings like the first time_ **

** _Seems it never ends, double nickels on your dime_ **

** _I thought we were friends, I guess it just depends who you ask_ **

** _These feelings tend to leave me with a hole in my chest_ **

** _A hole in my chest _ **


	2. All the damage done to your name and your keepsakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Buddy, I get that you’re upset. I would be too. And I know that...it probably hurts more that Shiro didn’t believe you than anything else.” 
> 
> Lance bit his lip. 
> 
> “For what it’s worth, after seeing that video, I don’t think Keith would leave you.” 
> 
> It should have been reassuring, like Hunk was aiming for, but instead Lance just felt even more frustrated. Why couldn’t the fact that Keilth loved him be enough for anyone? It was enough for Lance, on the cold nights when they were separated or if he had a nightmare and woke up but Keith didn’t. Keith really, truly loved him. 
> 
> And that’s enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might have forgotten to say this earlier, but this all takes place about two years after the events of Ground Control to Major Tom.

Silence greeted them at the other end of the universe. The thing about space, as wild and funky and crazy as it is, is that it’s big and empty too. Keith always says that he likes how quiet it is. Only time he can really hear himself think, he says. 

Lance likes waking up on Rath Veris, where Keith helped him find himself again and Rachel practically runs the main city so they stay in five star hotel suites and get the softest beds and fluffiest towels. Keith likes waking up in space, where it’s quiet, and it’s just them. 

Lance sighs as the wormhole collapses behind them and checks the ships sensors before switching on the autopilot. He turned his seat around to look at his friends. Pidge is calmly reconnecting the wires she had ripped out before takeoff. Hunk still looks green. 

“Hey, Hunk. Good to see you.” Lance said cheerfully. 

Hunk held a fist over his mouth and used his other hand to hold up a finger. He needed a moment. 

“Pidge, how are we looking?” 

“Phenomenal.” she drawled. “Landed right on target. Should be a quick hop over to Rigel Three. From there we can head basically anywhere.” 

“What’s, oh, God, hold on...what’s on Rigel Three?” Hunk asked. 

“Keith and I keep a storage locker there.” Lance shrugged. “Just in case.” 

“In case of what?”

“In case one of us runs off like a moron and leaves the other without a change of socks. Or gets kidnapped.” 

“...You alright there buddy?” 

Lance rubbed his forehead. No, he was not alright. It had been a very long day, and there was a lot of emotions to unpack. Plus his mother was pissed at him because he and Keith promised to stick around for a while and now this. 

“I’m fine.” Lance lied. “Why were you sneaking around the Garrison at midnight?” 

“I wasn’t sneaking.” Hunk instantly defended. “I was...tinkering.”

Pidge rose her eyebrows. 

“I couldn’t sleep, okay? And I hardly get to do any mechanical work anymore. I just wanted to play with things again, so I offered to fix a few of the ships overnight. I heard the yelling and ran over to see if I could help. Didn’t realize I’d end up helping steal the ship, instead of stopping it.” 

Lance frowned. “Does Shay know you’re doing this?” 

Hunk looked away. 

So, Pidge wasn’t the only one being secretive about reasons for sneaking off. Fine. 

“Look, if you guys could just drop me off, that would be great.” Hunk muttered. “Shay’s probably getting worried.” 

“No can do, buddy.” Lance shrugged. “Time is of the essence. We have to find Keith.” 

“Yeah, still not clear about that. Is he like...missing missing? Or did he like run off for a mission?”

“Shiro thinks he just wanted some air after his big fight with Lance.” Pidge volunteered. 

Lance glared at her. “Not helping.” he hissed. 

“You guys are fighting?” Hunk frowned. 

“No!”

“But you said things were great!” 

“Things are great.” 

“Then why did you fight?” 

“Does it really matter?” Lance asked, exasperated. “What matters is he was there with me one night, and the next morning he was gone. And no one saw him leave, and he didn’t say anything to me or anyone, and Krolia never picks up the damn phone. He’s just gone.” 

Pidge grimaced at him. 

“He said he wouldn’t leave again. He promised.” Lance blinked furiously. “He said he wouldn’t do that to me. And Shiro won’t believe me and I don’t care if you two believe me, but I’m going to go out there and find him. And when I do, I’m going to kick his ass for forgetting his comms.” 

“There’s the stable, loving relationship we all have so much faith in.” Pidge said dryly.

Lance looked away and rubbed his eyes. Dust, he told himself. Totally believable, space dust in his eyes. It was filthy in this cargo ship. 

“Okay, just…” Hunk let out a long breath. “Alright, tell us what happened.” 

Lance rubbed his temples. “Okay. Okay. So, we calmed down after the fight and we were watching some dumb movie - “

“What movie?” 

“Does it matter?”

“If he’s actually missing, it matters. What movie?” 

Lance sighed. “Artemis Fowl, anyway, - “

_ Keith loves Artemis Fowl. He loves a lot of old movies from their childhood. All the grainy graphics. Lance doesn’t really get it, and though he’s prepared to believe in a lot of things he does not believe in farting dwarves and elves that live under the Earth’s surface.  _

_ Lance isn’t really paying attention to the movie. He only put it on to make Keith happy, which is a pretty good reason to do anything in his book. He’s curled into Keith’s side, half asleep, breathing in the eucalyptus scent of Keith’s shampoo. He realizes Keith isn’t paying attention either when he starts singing.  _

_ Lance would have never guessed in a million years that Keith was musical. Mainly because he wasn’t. Not really. But songs seemed to just get trapped in his head. And when they do, he’ll sing the same verse over and over. A thousand lines of “Kiss Him Goodbye” one week, and a million repetitions of “Heroes” the next. And then there's all the songs he makes up, which Keith doesn't think Lance knows about. He does. It's adorable. _

_ Lately, it’s been a little...morbid.  _

_ “Cause I see you lying next to me.”  _

_ Lance rolled back a little to look up at Keith, surprised to find him smiling slightly. Keith brushed his fingertips along the marks on Lance’s cheekbones.  _

_ “With words I thought I’d never speak.  _

_ Awake, and unafraid.  _

_ Asleep, or dead.”  _

“God you two are so weird.” Pidge muttered. “How the quiznack is that romantic?” 

“You asked for details, you’re getting them.” Lance pouted. 

_ “What?” Lance asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”  _

_ “I didn’t apologise.” Keith muttered. “For earlier. I’m sorry.”  _

_ “It’s okay.”  _

_ “No, it’s not.” Keith pushed their foreheads together so that all Lance could see was one violet cyclops eye. “I’m sorry if I pushed you.”  _

_ “You didn’t.”  _

_ “Then what’s wrong?” The eye closed. “I want you to be happy.” _

_ “I am happy.”  _

_ “Then what are you so scared of?”  _

_ Lance sighed. “I just...don’t want to be left behind. Again.”  _

_ Keith pulled away to look at him properly. “How does your mind connect me wanting to buy a house for us to eventually settle down in, with me leaving you?”  _

_ “I don’t know, okay? Sometimes I just get worried that you’re settling with me, like the bad kind of settling, and I don’t know, one day you’re going to wake up and realize how boring I am and -” _

_ “Lance, breathe.” Keith reminded patiently.  _

_ Lance sucked in a big breath.  _

_ “You are honestly the least boring person I’ve ever met. I mean, you alternate between running covert ops and playing guitar in public parks, not to mention what we get up to on weekends. You’re almost too talented. You can pick up just about any skill you set your mind to.”  _

_ “You’re the hotshot pilot.” Lance muttered. “Warrior prince, robin hood - “ _

_ “You went from cargo pilot to fighter class in six months.”  _

_ “Because you dropped out.” _

_ “Because you worked hard.” Keith sighed and dropped a kiss on Lance’s brow. “I love our life together. It’s the furthest thing from boring. But I don’t think it’s too early to start thinking about...loving our life in one place. We’ve been slowing down lately, so I thought you were ready. I was wrong, and I’m sorry.” _

_ Lance stayed quiet, but he wrapped his arms tightly around Keith’s ribcage. Keith hugged back just as tight, fitting their bodies together perfectly in the lumpy spare bed.  _

_ “I’m not leaving. Not unless you tell me to.” Keith muttered. “Soulmates, right? Together even if I’m not getting laid.”  _

_ Lance snorted and smacked his side lightly. “You’re awful.”  _

_ Keith smiled and kissed him, then turned his attention back to the TV. Lance let his whole body relax, and eventually drifted off.  _

_ He woke with a start in the dark room, with Keith leaving his side.  _

“Okay, finally, the important bit.” Pidge grumbled. “Did you hear anything? See any lights outside? His comm going off?”

“No. Nothing.” Lance said. “He just said he left something in the ship, and put on his sweater and left. No classic signs of alien abduction.” 

"Maybe invasion of the body snatchers." Hunk muttered.

Lance frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well the Keith you're describing is like...affectionate."

"Keith is very affectionate."

Pidge snorted. "Yeah. Okay."

Lance had been surprised too when they started dating. How open Keith was about his feelings. And how generous he is with kisses and hugs and touches. He just hated it in public. Which, honestly is more than fine. It just meant that there were pieces of Keith only he knew about.

"He is.” Lance insisted. “He just hates PDA. He flipped out the first time I kissed him in public. But when it’s just us...he’s a very warm person.” 

“Right.” Hunk said flatly, and Lance knew neither of them believed him. Well, par for the course. “Well, excluding body snatchers we’re left with...abduction, and running away. And there’s no evidence of abduction.” 

“He didn’t run away.” Lance insisted, turning back to the controls. “He’s not like that anymore.” 

Silence was the response he got. 

“If either of you want to sleep, there’s plenty of space in the hold and we have about a varga of flight time.” 

~*~

_ “Hi Curtis.”  _

_ “Hey, kid.”  _

_ Lance can hear his smile. He doesn't have the video on because his weapons are all over Rachel's living room and he's too lazy to clean it right now.  _

_ "It’s so funny, you’ll never guess who I just got off the phone with.”  _

_ Lance adjusted his headset and frowned at the fingernails he was buffing. He had just finished a small job for his sister, and was trying to look the part of a dancer again. Triste was off planet for the weekend so Lance agreed to cover his floor shifts.  _

_ “Oh yeah?” Lance asked, scowling at the big black bruise under his fingernail. That’d take forever to grow out. “Who?”  _

_ “Keith.”  _

_ God, Lance hates the way his heart stops when that name comes up. One syllable is all it takes to strike the fear of God into him.  _

_ “Oh.” Lance let his hands drop. “Uhhh...how’s he doing?”  _

_ “Well, he seems to have started a wild goose chase.”  _

_ “What’s that supposed to mean?”  _

_ “He’s looking for you.”  _

_ Lance’s heart leapt into his throat. “Why?”  _

_ “Because your sister told him you’re missing and now he’s got it in his head that you need to be rescued.” _

_ “Rescued?” Lance sputtered. “I don’t need to be rescued. I’m not...I’m not some kid on a milk carton.” _

_ “You are not old enough to use that saying.” _

_ “You’re not old enough to judge me for it.”  _

_ “Touche.” Curtis grumbled.  _

_ “I’m still not missing.” Lance insisted. “I just - “ _

_ “I know, I know, you just won’t tell anyone where you are. Look, Keith’s on his way to find you. Do with it what you like. Just thought you should know.”  _

_ “Right. Thanks.” _

_ Lance sighed and tipped his head back as the line cut with a snap of static. He pulled off his headset and closed his eyes, practicing deep calming breaths.  _

_ Keith is coming. Keith is on his way. Keith cares so much in spite of all the hurt they’ve inflicted on each other over the years that he’s going to come and find him. Something that no one else seems bothered to do.  _

_ He’s not missing. He’s not. Any of his friends could find him if they put a bit of effort in. Okay, maybe he had stolen Pidge’s super high-tech comm so they couldn’t directly trace him, but it wasn’t like he was really covering his tracks. Unless he was on Rath Veris. The last thing he needed with anyone finding out a former Paladin was moonlighting as a cocktail waiter at a strip club and running sensitive errands for his mafia don sister. Shiro would have his head.  _

_ Still, if Keith actually was looking for him, and God knows Keith is unrelenting when he has a mission, it’s not going to take him long to track Lance down. Lance probably has a week, two if he’s lucky, before Keith shows up.  _

_ Lance put on his headset again and pulled up his sister’s contact. It rang three times before she picked up.  _

_ “Lance?”  _

_ “Hey Rach.” He paused. “I can’t work this weekend.”  _

_ “Why not?”  _

_ “Keith is looking for me.”  _

_ In spite of himself, Lance finds himself smiling. Keith is looking for him.  _

_ “Oh, Lance.” Rachel sighed. “Haven’t you done enough for him?”  _

_ “This isn’t about him.” _

_ It wasn’t. Not at all. Because this time, Lance is the one running and Keith is the one chasing after him. And all Lance really wanted out of all of this was for someone to catch up.  _

_ “I’m going back to Earth.” Lance told his sister. “I’ll wait for him there. I’ll work tonight but I’ll head out in the morning.”  _

_ “What if he comes here?”  _

_ “If he manages to get all the way here, just tell him where I am.”  _

_ Rachel sighed. “Fine.” _

_ “Hey Rach?” _

_ “What?” _

_ “Make him work for it.”  _

~*~

“So, you think Keith would’ve come here?” Pidge asked, leaning against the wall while Lance pressed his hand to the scanner on the storage unit door. 

“Maybe. We’ve used it as a rendez-vous a few times.” The door slid open and Lance felt around inside. “Hold on, let me find the light. Mostly we just use this place for storage.” 

“What exactly do you guys do all the time anyway?” Hunk asked. “You seem to have a lot of...resources.” 

“Oh, you know. I play guitar and he hangs out. He’s been writing lately. About Voltron. Sometimes we go on Blade missions.”

“Done any work for your sister lately?” 

“Here we are!” Lance finally found the light and flipped the switch. “Come on in, shut the door behind you.”

“Holy quiznack, Lance.” Pidge breathed as they both followed him in. “This isn’t a storage unit, it’s an apartment.” 

Lance rolled his eyes.

“Why do you have all of this?” Hunk asked, frowning at the beige couch with matching chairs neatly stacked.

Lance led them between the low coffee table and antique bed frame, past the hand carved bookshelf neatly stocked with boxes of mementos from their travels. The stacks of brand new kitchen appliances waiting to be installed in some home that doesn’t exist. Not yet, at least. 

“Yeah, I was expecting like...a mini-Blade base, or a spy den or something.” Pidge said, following Lance closely. “Not...HomeGoods.” 

“We travel a lot.” Lance shrugged. “We buy things we like, and save them for later. Come on, Blade base is in the back.”

“No wonder Keith thought you were ready to settle down. You’re basically nesting.” 

Lance ignored her. He didn’t expect either of them to understand. Instead he asked, “Is this what you were expecting?” 

Pidge looked around at the monitors, the racks of mounted weapons, the environmental suits and coms, and nods. “Yeah, this is what I expect from you and Keith.” 

Lance leaned over the desk and typed a few commands into the keyboard. A starmap blew up on the main screen, and unsurprisingly a message reading,  **Fun Ghoul Cannot Be Located** .

“Do you want me to - “

“No. It must be on the other end.” Lance frowned. “Hold on, there’s something else I want to try.” 

“Lance, how did you get all these guns?” Hunk asked. 

“Oh you know, you pick things up here and there.” Lance shrugged, typing in his next command. “Okay. Here we go.” 

The screen went black, then filled with an image of an empty chair. 

“Lance? What is this?” Pidge asked quietly. 

“A recording from the ship.” Lance explained. “We had this installed in case something bad happened. The ship transmits recordings back here, and they’re stored for a month before they’re automatically deleted. This is from the night he disappeared.” 

On screen, Keith shuffled into view in the thick sweater Lance had last seen him in. His hair is pulled back in a messy bun, and he’s tired, but beautiful. Cosmo’s tail wags into view, sticking up over the top of the desk. 

Keith smiles. “Hey, buddy.” 

Cosmo yipped and Keith reached over and scratched his ears. After a moment he sighed and took a small box out of his pocket and set it on the dash. Lance took in a sharp breath.

“Never thought he’d be the one who wasn’t ready.” Keith told his space wolf mindlessly. “Suppose it’s too early anyway.” 

“Keith.” Lance breathed. 

“Oh, well.” Keith muttered. “I’ll give it to him at some point. Maybe next year.” 

“Why didn’t you say he was going to propose?” Hunk asked, nudging Lance. 

Lance’s chest was aching. “I didn’t know.” 

On screen, Cosmo straightened up so his head poked up over the top of the dashboard and let out a sharp bark. 

“Cosmo? What is it?” 

The image shook, and Keith scrambled for the controls. Cosmo was going nuts and Keith’s eyes were narrowed the way they did when things were going wrong. 

He stopped and looked up. “Lance - “

There was a bright flash, and then the screen went black. Lance held his breath. 

“Okay.” Pidge muttered. “That’s weird.” 

“Weird! That’s horrifying!” Lance squeaked. “My boyfriend disappeared in a flash of light! It’s like every movie I ever watched and couldn’t sleep after.” 

“Why didn’t you say he was going to propose?” Hunk asked again. 

Lance rounded on him. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that he fell off the face of the damn planet was a bit of a distraction!” 

“Boys, not now.” Pidge said sharply. “Lance, what was that earlier when it said that message about the Fun Ghoul?”

“It’s Keith’s code name.” Lance muttered. “Stage name of a guitarist from the early 2000’s. We both have trackers in our enviro-suits.” 

“And not one in the ship itself?”

“Why? So Shiro can track us?” 

“Okay, well, the video was sent from Earth. I can trace the signal, and from there we can maybe see where the ship went next.” 

“Great.” 

“It’ll take me about a varga though.”

“Fine. Hunk and I are going to get us transport.” 

“We already have transport.” Hunk protested. 

“No, we have a clunky cargo ship that I haven’t flown since I was fifteen. We’re getting a new ship.” Lance crossed the room to open a cabinet and pull out an environmental suit. “Pidge, if I pack a bag, can you bring it to meet us when you’re done?” 

“Sure.” Pidge’s fingers were already flying across the keyboard, and didn’t even look up. “Send me a ping so I know where I’m going.” 

“Yep. Just be ready to leave quickly.” 

“Why would we need to leave quickly?” Hunk asked. 

Lance opened a new cabinet and took out a rifle and sniper scope. He checked the charge pack before pulling out a hard case and setting it on the table to pack up.

“Why would we need to leave quickly?” Hunk repeated. 

“Because first, I’m going to try to buy a ship.” Lance said, carefully placing the gun and scope in the soft foam. “Then, if they try to screw me over, or kill me, then we’ll have to steal the ship and maybe hurt some people.”

“Lance, we have a ship.” Hunk protested. “We don’t need to go through all of this.”

Lance took a pair of twin handguns out of another cabinet and slammed the door shut. He looked at his friends. 

“I’m going to say this once. Keith is missing. I am going to find him. I will do whatever it takes to find him. If that makes you uncomfortable, you can stay here on Rigel III and find your own way back to Earth.” 

The storage locker was silent for a moment. 

“I’m in dude.” Pidge finally said. “I’ll always have your back.” 

“Thanks, Pidge.” 

They fist bumped, and Pidge went back to the computer. Lance looked at Hunk. He shuffled awkwardly, sighed and shook his head. 

“Whatever it takes?” Hunk repeated. 

“Absolutely.” 

“I can’t do whatever.”

“I’m not asking you to. But you have to be okay with me doing whatever.” 

Hunk let out a long breath, but held up his fist. “We’ll find him, buddy.” 

“Yeah. We will.” Lance pressed their fists together. “Hey, meet me outside, okay?” 

“Sure.” 

Lance took a moment to grab a few spare changes of clothes, a few of Keith’s things for when they found him, then sighed and picked up a holo-pic off the desk. Pidge watched him out of the corner of her eye, concerned but silent. Keith smiled up at him, calm and centered the way Lance was used to seeing these days. 

Whatever it takes. 

~*~

Lance changed into his suit and pulled on a dark blue jacket to hide the blasters he tucked into his utility belt. He ruffled Pidge’s hair, left his bags by the door, and led Hunk at a brisk trot up the street to the planet's public transport depot. 

Once they were on a tram heading to a salvage lot, Hunk sat in a vacant seat and Lance leaned on a pole. 

“So, what brings you here?” Lance asked blithely. 

Hunk rose an eyebrow. “Well, my best friends kidnapped me to the other end of the universe. Again.” 

“Hunk, we both know if you were really upset about it you would have stopped us.” Lance picked at his fingernails. “And you’re not here because of Keith, because you and everyone else think he can take care of himself.” 

Hunk sighed. “Lance, I understand that you’re worried - “ 

Lance scoffed. 

“-but honestly, Keith is stronger than he looks. I’m sure by the time we catch up to him everything will be handled. If he was even kidnapped in the first place.” 

Lance scowled. “Well if you’re so sure he’s fine, why are you still here?” 

“Because my best friend needs my help.” 

Lance knew the face of someone who was running from something. He used to see that face in the mirror a lot. 

“Right.” Lance said cooly. “Keith’s not missing and you’re not running, and neither is Pidge. And I’m a well adjusted vetran who planet-hops to play guitar with the goal of fucking my boyfriend in every corner of the universe.” 

“God, Lance.”

“One part of that is true. Guess which it is?” 

Hunk sighed. “I’m not sure I want to.” 

The tram slowed to a stop and the doors slid open. A pair of school girls sharing a breathing apparatus and a woman with an octopus for a head disembarked. The doors slid shut. 

“It was the fucking thing.” Lance shared. 

“Unfortunately, I figured.” 

They rode in silence for a moment. 

“Buddy, I get that you’re upset. I would be too. And I know that...it probably hurts more that Shiro didn’t believe you than anything else.” 

Lance bit his lip. 

“For what it’s worth, after seeing that video, I don’t think Keith would leave you.” 

It should have been reassuring, like Hunk was aiming for, but instead Lance just felt even more frustrated. Why couldn’t the fact that Keilth loved him be enough for anyone? It was enough for Lance, on the cold nights when they were separated or if he had a nightmare and woke up but Keith didn’t. Keith really, truly loved him. 

And that’s enough. 

Luckily, Lance didn’t have to dwell on it for too long. The tram rattled to a stop and Lance gestured to Hunk, who got up. The tram deposited them about a block away from the salvage lot, which seemed to be overfilled and bursting outwards. As they stepped through the open gates, Hunk bent down to pick up a metal box. Frowning slightly, he turned it over in his hands and opened a metal flap. 

“What is it?” Lance asked. 

“Dunno.” 

“Well, don’t blow anything up.”

“That’s more Pidge’s department.” 

“Hello, welcome to Shiny Emporium, best bargains this side of - Blue Paladin?” 

Lance and Hunk’s heads snapped around. “Nyma?” Lance asked incredulously. 

Nyma looked exactly the same as she had when they’d first met her. That had been such a bad day for Lance. Not that it had been worse than any other day he’d managed to make an ass of himself between trying to get noticed by Allura and be better than Keith. 

Nyma grinned. “Never thought I’d see the day. What the quiznack are you two doing this side of the Trenzalore Wastes?”

Hunk glanced at Lance. “Well, we - “ 

“We hit a bit of trouble and got knocked off course.” Lance lied smoothly. “Our ship didn’t have the smoothest landing, so we’re in the market for something a little more space worthy.” 

“Hmm, we might have something lying around.” 

There was a glint to Nyma’s eyes that Lance recognized. But as she pushed off the appliance she had been leaning against, and started a jagged limp towards them. As the bottom of her trousers lifted, Lance saw both of her legs had been replaced with prosthetics. They looked almost homemade, nothing like the shining floating models Shiro sported. 

Then Lance remembered that she had once handcuffed him to a tree and stolen his Lion. And though he had been an awful flirt and not a great Paladin back then, it was his  _ Lion _ . 

“Come on, Paladins. Let’s see what we’ll see.” Nyma said, turning and leading them between two mountains of wires. 

“So you run this place now?” Hunk asked, falling into step with her. 

“My boyfriend does. I just help out.” She tapped the monkey wrench in her hand against her metal thigh. “Not so great at heists since the war. Unlike someone, so I hear.” 

Lance ignored her. “Well, at least you’re up and walking. So, do you have anything space worthy in this junk heap?” 

Hunk picked up a circuit board off the ground and started to fiddle with the wires to keep his hands busy, connecting the board to the box he had picked up earlier. They walked between stacks of old cooling systems and around an enormous spool of multi-colored wire. 

Nyma bristled. “It’s a salvage lot, and yes. A couple of Nylor traders just dropped off an M-class Red Sun Fighter. Fresh off the line.” 

Hunk let out a low whistle. “Pidge will not like that.” 

Red Sun was Holt Industries’ main competitor. 

“What’s wrong with it?” Lance asked. 

“Nothing’s wrong with it.” Nyma rolled her eyes. “I’m not here to swindle you, Lancey. Flies like a dream, the weapons systems aren’t half bad either.”

“The Nylor wouldn’t leave it here if it were in good condition.” 

They skirted a puddle of oil and passed a decommissioned housekeeping droid with pink synthetic hair. Finally it opened up to a large clearing with a few half-cannibalized airships parked over puddles. 

Off to the side sat the Red Sun, with its sleek black exterior and dragonfly wing design that allowed for a smoother transfer in and out of atmo. A little bigger than the jet he and Keith shared, but still small and sleek. The Red Sun logo splashed across the side of the craft, a red circle with a yellow horizon dashing through. 

“Well, it’s not damaged.” Hunk observed, he walked around the back end. “Engines look fine. At least from out here.” 

“Open her up.” Lance said. 

“We haven’t discussed payment.” Nyma said silkily. 

“Nyma, you’re insane if you think I’m buying anything from you without looking it over first.”

Nyma looked him over. “You’ve changed.” 

“It happens to all of us.” 

“You used to trust me.” 

“I was seventeen, Nyma. I trusted a lot of things.” 

“I hear the stories you know. About you and the red one. They say you play songs written by heroes of earth. And he goes wherever you lead.” 

Lance carefully kept his face neutral. “Keith does plenty of his own leading. He took me to Wrenthia to see the rise of the blue suns. Most beautiful thing I’ve seen.” 

Keith sprawled out on that hill with the cold blue light making him look like a greek god trumped the sunrise. 

“I hear other stories too.”

Lance glanced over to check that Hunk was still on the other side of the ship. 

“Stories about two shadows who leave destruction in their wake. Some say they work for a woman on a black planet, others say they take any bounty that’s high enough.” 

“Seems like they have a wild time.” Lance said evenly. “Shadows aside, I’m just a simple musician, but I know enough not to buy a ship without looking inside it.” 

Nyma shrugged. “Have it your way.” 

She led him around to the back where Hunk was and pressed a hand to the side of the ship. The back swung down and open to be a gangplank, Lance took one look inside and glared at Nyma. 

“See?” she said blankly. “Perfect condition.”

“There’s no interior.” 

“But it’s not an old outdated interior.” 

Lance rolled his eyes and headed inside to poke around, Hunk following him carefully. The inside was completely stripped down, metal beams holding insulation against the hull. They passed through the small cargo hold and into what would be the living quarters. The only thing that had been built into the space was a small bathroom and a closet. The floor wasn’t even carpeted. The cockpit had hastily installed bucket seats and all the controls looked like they were in order. Hunk put down the circuitry he had been fiddling with to run brief systems checks. 

“Alright.” Lance said, looking at Nyma. “How much?” 

Nyma pursed her lips. “Five hundred.”

Lance scoffed. “I’ll give you two.”

“It’s fresh off the line!”

“Yeah, so fresh they forgot to put the furniture in.” 

“Four.”

“Hunk, let’s go. We can find a brand new ship for less.” 

“Good luck finding the Red one, then.” 

Lance’s blood ran cold. 

“What do you know?” Hunk asked sharply. 

“One hears all kinds of things on the swap moons.” Nyma grinned at Lance. “I can do three hundred, but I won’t give you the papers.” 

“Done.” Lance said quickly. 

“Lance we need papers.” Hunk muttered. 

“I can get us papers.” Lance didn’t take his eyes off Nyma. “What do you know about Keith? Where is he?” 

“No idea.” Nyma smirked. 

Lance realized three things at the same moment. First, Nyma was using Keith to get a rise out of him. Second, Hunk was smarter than he looked because he had a small flash bomb in his hand. Third, a shadow was moving behind Nyma. 

Lance kicked out and landed his heal where Nyma’s knee was, causing her rickety prosthetic to fold the wrong way and go out from under her. Lance was already pulling a gun from his belt as Nyma’s tall green skinned boyfriend stepped forward with a blaster pointed at Lance’s chest. Hunk rushed at him with his grenade extended in front of him, one arm covering his eyes as he released the trigger button. 

Lance covered his own eyes and as soon as he lifted his face he pointed his gun at Nyma. She blinked at him, dazed and with her legs tangled under her. 

“Don’t move.” Lance said. “Hunk! You alright, buddy?” 

“Yep. Haven’t done that in a while.” 

Lance knelt down and snapped a pair of handcuffs on Nyma’s wrists. 

“Are you asking me to dance?” she asked, slurred. 

Lance sighed. “I don’t even want to know.” 

Lance and Hunk dragged Nyma and her boyfriend out of the ship and propped them up against an abandoned generator. The boyfriend was cross eyed so they didn’t bother cuffing him. Nyma started to come to while Hunk and Lance were arguing about payment. 

“We can’t steal the ship, Lance. Just transfer the credits.” 

“No way. This is the second time she’d tried to screw us. Besides, if she’s not giving us papers then technically she can’t sell us anything anyway.” 

“Lance.” 

“Also, can you imagine what Pidge would do if she found out we actually paid for it? I’d rather save the money and spend it on the interior. I’m imagining cream leather. Like a private jet from the movies.” 

“Gross.” 

“Look who’s awake.” Lance said, looking down at Nyma. He rested his foot on her knee. “What do you know about Keith?” 

“You’ve lost your honor as a paladin.” Nyma hissed. “Bounty hunter. Alfor would be ashamed.” 

Lance added pressure to her knee, turning it out and making it twist against where it connected to her skin and bone. Nyma whimpered. 

“Where’s Keith?” Lance repeated. 

“I don’t know.” 

Lance pressed harder and Nyma cried out. 

“Lance! Enough!” Hunk said sharply. 

Lance glared at Hunk. “Whatever it takes.” he promised. 

“I don’t know! I don’t know!” Nyma babbled. “Everyone talks about how you’re inseparable and when I saw you without him I thought I could use it to scare you. I don’t know anything, I swear!” 

Lance pressed harder for a few seconds, then released her. Nyma gasped in a few breaths then rolled away from Lance. While she struggled, Lance pulled out his comm and transferred two hundred thousand GAC. Call the missing hundred an inconvenience fee. 

“Let’s go.” Lance said shortly, walking towards their new ship. “Don’t want to keep Pidge waiting.” 

~*~

**Now the time has come I just wish I could erase**

**All the damage done to your name and your keepsakes**

**It's only just begun, it's been fun, we were blind, deaf and dumb**

**There's a party in my closet calling all skeletons**

**All skeletons, calling all**


	3. I've grown to love your disappearing acts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You will see him again." Krolia promised. "I will spread the word, have the Blade search for him. If you find him first, we will be able to mobilize faster than the Garrison." 
> 
> "Okay." Lance nodded. 
> 
> God he loved Krolia. Her son is missing and she stays level headed and uses her resources. You could tell her Zarkon had returned and she'd stay as cool as a cucumber.

They picked Pidge up from the rendez-vous point and broke the atmosphere fairly quickly, wanting to get off-planet before Nyma worked her way out of the handcuffs. Lance quietly marveled at the smooth transition into vacuum, supplied by the dragonfly wings that folded away at the touch of a button to increase velocity. Keith was going to love this. 

Hunk was quiet, sitting in the copilot’s chair and observing Lance closely. Pidge, after initial anger at the Red Sun brand and then laughter at the lack of interior, used a scarf to strap herself to a wall and settled in with her laptop. 

“Any progress, Pidge?” Lance asked, settling into orbit until Pidge could give them bearings. 

“This is a lot harder than it looks, Lance.” Pidge grumbled. “Especially with this shit network relay. Hunk, you think you can do something about that?” 

“Sure.” Hunk said, finally turning away from Lance. “Give me a second.” 

Lance took the time to see what the ship did come equipped with. A halfway decent weapons system with two gun turrets. Sound system, always important. And a starmap, which Lance opened and left on the screen in front of him. As if a red dot would suddenly appear, labeled,  _ Keith is here _ . 

The ship also came equipped with a brand spanking new zip drive. Zip drives were the new way that smaller ships made it across long distances quickly without the support of a cruiser and without a wormhole generator. They basically created small electromagnetic explosions that propelled ships at a high velocity across the universe. The only problem with them was you could only go in one direction at a time, resulting in more complicated flight plans looking like an old fashioned zip-line excursion. Hence, zip drives. 

The one on the old ship was a little faulty. It occasionally didn’t blast hard enough and the ship would short, then they had to wait for the drive to recharge. They had been meaning to ask Pidge to take a look at it, but for some reason never got around to it. Lance thought that maybe they both kind of liked it like that, as much as Keith cursed it when it broke down. They always got where they were going, sometimes it just took a little longer. 

Hunk got the relax up to Pidge’s standards, and Pidge clacked away at her laptop. 

“So, I’ve managed to capture the signal being broadcasted from your ship. According to the video, Keith’s abductors transported the ship before blocking that signal. So, if we cast a wide enough net, we should be able to find a trace of that signal before they managed to block it.”

“What if they shut down the signal too fast?” Lance asked. 

“Even a microtick will be enough.” Pidge reassured. “The signal never stops, Lance. Once it’s out there, it lives forever. And whatever tech they used to move the ship in the first place needs a signal, so any distortion tech they usually use would be out of commission. For just a microtick.” 

“How do you think Keith was taken?”

“Some type of teleportation. It’s the only thing I can think of. A tractor-beam would have left evidence and teleportation would explain the bright light.”

Hunk made a face. “But he saw something out the window. Before he was taken.” 

“Could have been anything. My best guess is he saw someone attaching the honing device to the ship. They would have needed one to get anything across a galaxy.” 

“But who are they?” Hunk asked. “And why would they take Keith?” 

Pidge looked at Lance, expecting an answer. 

“I don’t know.” Lance said. 

He really didn’t. He and Keith have pissed off plenty of people over the last two years. Since they started traipsing across the universe taking on jobs. But none of them actually knew who they were. They were careful. 

Apparently not careful enough. 

Lance’s comm began to ring. He shifted in his seat and pulled it from his pocket. 

_ Krolia Calling _

Lance jabbed the accept button. “Hello? Krolia?” 

“Lance.” 

Krolia’s expression was more or less neutral, the way it always was. But Lance knew Keith well enough to look for certain involuntary give-aways. The slight pinching of the brow. A tightening of the lip. He was his mother’s son, even a million lightyears away. 

“I was told you called.” 

The  _ one million times _ goes unspoken, and Lance can tell she’s a little annoyed but concerned anyway. 

“Have you heard from Keith?” Lance asked. 

The frown deepens ever so slightly. “No. He was with you, on Earth.”

“I think someone took him.” 

Krolia frowned. “Where are you?” 

“We’re on Rigel III. We’re looking for him. Pidge is trying to track the ship.”

“Have you alerted Shiro? The Atlas would be able to track any ship.” 

“He doesn’t believe me.” 

Krolia’s mouth was a hard line. “That doesn’t sound like him.” 

“He’s distracted. With his new daughter. And he’s not...well, Keith does have a track record of running.”

“Keith wouldn’t leave you, Lance.” Krolia said firmly. “It’s against his nature.”

“You left.” Lance reminded, then immediately winced. “Sorry, Krolia, that wasn’t nice.” 

“It was honest.” she corrected. “But, Keith already left you twice. I don’t think he’s capable of doing it again.” 

Lance wants to believe her, and most of him does. But there's that one tiny bit of him that thinks if Keith had a good enough reason, he'd leave anyway. And what Keith thought was a good reason and what Lance thought was acceptable rarely aligned. 

"You will see him again." Krolia promised. "I will spread the word, have the Blade search for him. If you find him first, we will be able to mobilize faster than the Garrison." 

"Okay." Lance nodded. 

God he loved Krolia. Her son is missing and she stays level headed and uses her resources. You could tell her Zarkon had returned and she'd stay as cool as a cucumber. 

She told him to keep in touch and signed off. Hunk finished fixing the relay, then gathered the pieces of the thing he picked up in the junkyard. 

"Okay." Pidge bit her lip. "I...I think I have a heading."

"You sure?" 

"As sure as I'm going to be. Even if Keith isn't at the other end of this signal, we'll find something." 

~*~

Lance carefully charted a course with minimal obstacles and fired up the zip drive. Hunk retired to the back with his broken equipment and a blanket. 

Pidge disappeared for a bit, but surprised Lance by sitting in the co-pilot's seat with a juice pack and a tablet. Lance smiled at her, but didn't say anything. 

After a while, Pidge got a little restless. She put her tablet down and curled her legs under her.

"How are you holding up?" She asked.

Lance shrugged. "I've been better. You?"

"I mean, about this Keith thing." Pidge said. "I expected...I don't know. Tears, or something."

"We don't have time for tears or something." Lance sighed and waited for the ship to slow down again. Zip-drives went really fast, so fast that if you tried to drive through a planet or a star you’d see nothing but the white lights of heaven’s gate. "I miss him, yeah. It's awful. I’m not sure if I'll be able to sleep without him next to me. But if I dwell on that it'll be that much harder to find him. So, I'll focus on whatever it is I can do, and when it's time to sleep I'll take enough black market ambien to put me down for six hours, and then keep going."

"I don't think he would want you to kill yourself to find him."

"Of course he wouldn't. But when I see him and he bitches at me, I'll remind him that he would do the same."

"Must be nice," Pidge murmured, "having someone so close."

"Pidge, we'd drop everything if it was you. You know -"

"That's not what I meant." She said hastily. "I meant...a partner. Someone always there, even when bad shit happens." 

"Oh." Lance said dumbly.

Pidge had never...even shown the slightest interest in being in a relationship. Or if she did it wasn't anything Lance could recognize. Lance had always thought she was aromantic, as well as ace. Even the vague admission of possibly wanting a relationship made her uncomfortable, curling in on herself. 

So, Lance made the conversation about himself again.

"Yeah, well, it took us a while to get there." Lance shrugged. "Weeks, really."

"Weeks? You mean years." Pidge scoffed. "You and Keith have been dancing around each other since he was still flying in Red. And don't deny it."

"Okay." Lance adjusted the ship's heading so they wouldn't fly into a red dwarf and punched the zip drive again. Their surroundings blurred as they accelerated. "But that's not what I meant. I meant when we first got together. After Shiro's wedding. It took a while for us to figure it out."

"Like what? Like sex?"

"God no, get your mind out of the gutter.  _ That  _ was fine. That was really fine. It was the other stuff. Like, he was the person I was closest to, and then we were together and it shouldn't have been confusing but it was. Whenever I did something cool or new or slightly dangerous, Keith was the first person I wanted to tell. But we started dating and I'm not sure if I should tell my worry-wart boyfriend I chased after a purse snatcher. Or like, he does something stupid and as his friend I can tease him mercilessly, but can I do that as his partner? If I go too far and he gets upset, it's more hurtful to him and it makes me a monster."

"What did you do?"

"Well I woke up one day and realized I was being an idiot because I fell in love with him because I could tell him anything and when I teased him he gave it right back. Well, and he's cute when he's mad. He pouts. I know you've seen it. And he's kind of a dumbass sometimes so he needs the teasing so he can learn."

"You probably shouldn't call the love of your life a dumbass."

"Pidge, he thought his dog would name itself."

"...okay, you have a point."

"Anyway, basically I realized he was still my best friend. The person who completed me. But now I got the benefit of being with him all the time. Plus, you know, mindblowing sex, but whatever's going on with you I know that bonus doesn't apply."

Pidge sank lower in her seat. "Nothing's going on with me."

"You convinced me to steal a Garrison ship and fly us halfway across the universe, when we could have just, I don't know, really laid into Shiro. Hell, asked someone else for help."

"You said it yourself, there wasn't time for that."

"Sure, but you've been pretty level headed this whole time. You could have made me see reason. But instead you used it as an excuse to get off planet. Which is about as extra as disguising yourself as a boy and hacking yourself a place at the Galaxy Garrison to find your missing father and brother."

Pidge looked out the viewfinder at the stars rushing past.

"I thought you were fighting with your mom again."

"No, I've met someone." She mumbled. "They make me feel...alive. Like any problem can be solved. I just...I don't know if I can. Be in a relationship. It's...I've never had one, and Tig says they don't want to make me uncomfortable, but I just -"

"Hey, hey, relax." Lance reached over and rubbed her back. "I didn't mean to upset you. We don't have to talk about it, but it kind of seems like you want to."

Pidge took a shaky breath and nodded, looking miserably overwhelmed. 

"Relationships are about being comfortable enough with another person to operate as a unit. And about being happy. That's it. Everything else is just detail." 

Pidge got her breathing under control. Lance kept rubbing her back, pausing when she readjusted her blanket. 

"So, Tig, huh?" Lance asked.

"Short for Antigone." Pidge mumbled. "Don't tell anyone. Especially Matt."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Lance smiled and kept half an eye on his dash. “How’d you meet them?”

“Dad’s been hiring floating baristas, you know, basically people who come in and make us fancy coffee.” 

“No, I don’t know, I live on the edge of known space, but continue.” 

Pidge rolled her eyes. “Tig was one of the baristas. At first I thought it was weird, you know, someone stopping by and offering to make me lattes and not taking no for an answer. Then I realized they were looking at my work, so I got mad, thinking they were a corporate spy.” 

Lance laughed. 

“It’s not funny, Lance! Red Sun would do anything to get a peek at my project files. Anyway, then Tig started asking me questions about what I was doing, turns out they were getting a PhD in chemical engineering and decided to take some time off to find themselves.”

“Huh.” Lance considered. “They don’t sound anything like you at all.” 

“Yeah, well, I’m a rebel. I appreciate the rebel in Tig.” 

“I get that.” He paused. “Why did you run, then?” 

Pidge shifted in her seat. “Why did you run from Keith?” 

Lance grimaced. “Touche.” 

"I don't know. I guess I just wanted some space. A crazy roadtrip to find Keith sounded like a good idea."

They sat in silence for a while. 

“Do you miss her?” Pidge asked after a while. “Allura?” 

Lance ran his fingers over the marking on his right cheek. “Yeah. But...I don’t think I miss her the way I’m supposed to. I loved her, and then she was gone, and now...there’s times when I’m getting ready for bed and I realize I haven’t even thought about her all day.”

“That just means you’ve healed.” Pidge said gently. “I don’t think she’d blame you for that. Besides, I’m sure Keith keeps you pretty occupied.” 

Lance laughed softly. “Yeah, I suppose you could say that.” 

“What do you guys even do out here?” Pidge asked. “I mean, I get that whatever it is, you can’t tell Shiro. But you can tell me.” 

Lance sighed. “It’s...kind of complicated, Pidge. Lots of morally grey, doing jobs that need to get done that are too small for Shiro.”

“Are you running drugs?”

“What? No!”

“Are you doing drugs?” 

“No!...okay, there was one time I accidentally took some triptarin. I was hard for  _ vargas _ . Keith thought he was going to die.” 

“Oh, my god, ew, shut up.” Pidge gagged, reaching over and slapping his arm. “I do not need to hear about you and Keith’s crazy drug-fueled sex marathons.” 

“It wasn’t like we did it on purpose!” Lance protested. “Someone gave it to us as payment, and I was going to sell it, and I was really hungover and looking for aspirin, and well...my headache definitely went away, but we had to throw out the sheets.”

Pidge still looked disgusted. 

“It’s not all glamourous.” Lance admitted. “We’ve had some really bad days. Close calls. But we’ve made some friends. Really good ones. Maybe I’ll introduce you sometime.” 

“Yeah.” Pidge finally stopped looking revolted and smiled slightly. “I think I’d like that. And...and maybe I can introduce you to Tig. I think you’d like them.”

“Sounds like a deal.” 

~*~

_ Lance idly swirled his glass, listening to the ice balls clink as they mixed the nulvil. It is funny how often he and Keith drink it now.  _

_ They don’t get a lot of days like this. Where they can sit in the open, feel the sun on their faces, hold hands. Lance can insist on paying for their drinks. Keith can pour over the menu and decide not to order anything, because they have all day. They can go somewhere else for dinner. Almost like a date.  _

_ Exactly like a date.  _

_ Keith is looking at Lance with a funny look on his face. His nose and cheeks are still red from their job on the desert planet of Reqas the other day. He’s looking at Lance, but Lance can tell he’s not really seeing him. Lost in his own head, as always.  _

_ So Lance swallows his nulvil and ever so elegantly asks, “What?”  _

_ Keith snaps out of it and shakes his head. “Sorry. I was just thinking. About us.”  _

_ “Well, don’t burst a blood vessel.” _

_ “Funny.”  _

_ “I’m kidding. What are you thinking about?” _

_ “I told you.”  _

_ “Okay, well what specifically about us?”  _

_ Keith shrugged, and Lance looked away. He watched a small family of Altens walk by. The mother elegantly held a parasol to keep the sun at bay.  _

_ “I was just thinking...what would have happened if we just...shook hands after Shiro’s wedding and walked away. Would we still be here anyway? Just, taking a moment between jobs? Or...I don’t know. I’m not sure I would have gone back to the Blade.”  _

_ “I used to think about things like that too.” he admitted. “Sometimes.” _

_ Keith looked away. “Right. Like after Allura left.”  _

_ “Or like after you left for the Blade.”  _

_ Keith looked up, surprised. Lance squirmed under his intense gaze, so he picked up his drink and finished it.  _

_ “Really?”  _

_ Lance rolled his eyes. “Yes, really, you took up eighty percent of my time on the Castleship, dumbass. I missed you. I wondered what it would be like if you had stayed.”  _

_ “Nothing would have changed.” Keith said gruffly. “I would have just continued to painfully pine after you in silence.”  _

_ “Nah, I would have made a move at some point.” Lance slowly rubbed Keith’s thumb with his own. “Probably after some big win, all high on adrenaline.” _

_ “I probably would have told you no.” Keith admitted quietly. “Convinced you were fucking with me.”  _

_ Lance smiled. “Yeah. I would have asked again though. Eventually. When I got the nerve. Told you I liked your stupid hair and junk.”  _

_ Keith rolled his eyes.  _

_ “I had it all planned out. I would have taken you to the harvest festival on Horvath. Coran told me they have the best fireworks in the galaxy. And these fried dough things that are filled with the lightest caramel cream.”  _

_ “Sounds nice.” Keith said softly, squeezing his hand gently.  _

_ “Yeah.” Lance sighed. “But is it wrong of me to like how things turned out?”  _

_ Keith leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, which only lasted a few seconds. Lance sat in shock as Keith settled back into his seat and sipped his drink. Keith hated,  _ hated _ , PDA. So him leaning over to kiss Lance in the middle of a busy boardwalk cafe was almost the same as a ring.  _

_ “You kissed me.” Lance said dumbly.  _

_ “Try not to burst a blood vessel.” Keith smirked.  _

~*~

Hunk woke up and insisted that Lance try to get some sleep. Pidge had already passed out in the copilot’s chair, and Hunk could handle the last zip to their destination. Lance didn’t take any prescription medications to help him sleep, instead he lay on a pile of blankets in the stripped-down living quarters, staring at the ceiling and wondering what kind of ceiling Keith was looking at. 

He hoped he was okay. 

He missed him. God, now that he had finally stopped moving it was so bad and so raw it hurt. He missed how Keith would roll from his back to his front to his side trying to get comfortable at the end of the day. He missed the softness of his skin, and how his hair was always a little damp from his shower just before bed. He missed how, when Keith did find his sleeping position which was almost always on his side, he’d curl a hand around Lance’s hip and kiss the back of his shoulder. 

Lance fell asleep remembering what his hair felt like between his finger tips. 

Hunk woke him up. He leaned over him as he shook him, his face tight with worry. Lance sat up so fast they almost smacked their foreheads together. 

“What’s wrong?” Lance demanded, his dry mouth sticking to his tongue. 

“Everything’s fine. We’re in orbit. Pidge is watching the helm.” Hunk stood. “Coffee?” 

“Please.” 

Hunk rummaged in one of the supply bags from the storage unit and came up with Garrison-issue caffeine cups. He took three out of the pack, balanced them in one hand, and poured water into each. The layer of instant coffee crystals on the bottom dissolved instantly. When Lance took his, he pressed the little button on the side to make the cup heat the liquid. He wrinkled his nose at the aroma. 

“God, I forgot how gross this stuff is.” 

“Better than living without it.” Hunk reminded. 

Lance sighed, and held his cup up. “To beverages better than food goo.”

Hunk smiled slightly and clinked his own cup. “To beverages better than food goo.” 

Lance managed to take a sip of his instant-coffee without gagging and followed Hunk back into the cockpit. He was making a list of everything he and Keith would need to furnish this ship. 

A bed. 

Carpet. 

Towels. 

Curtains. Not that it would hide anything but Lance liked the look of them. 

And a coffee maker. Because if Lance ever had to drink instant again then so help him…

And this was all seperate from the things they would need for their home. The home Keith wanted. The one Lance had been unconsciously preparing for, hiding away furniture in their storage unit. 

The one that he was terrified to start. 

Lance braced himself for another sip of coffee. Find Keith, fix whatever messed up situation he had been dragged into, and then figure out all the other stuff. 

In the cockpit, Pidge was still sitting in the copilot’s chair with a blanket around her shoulders. She murmured a word of thanks when Hunk handed her the coffee, but didn’t take her eyes off the screen in front of her. The ship was providing a scan of the planet’s surface. 

“Hey, sleeping beauty.” she greeted, glancing up at Lance. 

Lance scowled. “I sleep in one time…”

“Well, this is where the last signal came from. Third moon of the gas giant Eurphrates. Looks like there’s a few settlements, but they were abandoned a while ago.” 

“Why even bother?” Hunk asked, looking at the sensor readings on the screen. “This place is pretty uninhabitable, no matter how tough you are. Atmosphere is a mix of Nitrogen and Chlorine, the surface is covered in what looks like silicone glass, and oh, that’s fun, it rains cyanide.” 

Lance studied the dark habitat-domes on the screen. One looked like it had melted, jagged edges stretching towards each other for completion. 

“I mean, I wouldn’t want to put my super secret outpost here,” Lance said, “I’d prefer a beach view, but Keith would probably talk me into it. No one wants to come here, no one would attack.” 

Hunk nodded. “Makes sense. Are any of those habitat-domes still active?” 

Pidge typed a few commands. “No. But, it looks like someone’s dug out a cave-network under the surface. Not a ton of activity, but it looks like basic life support, communications array, and maybe enough power left over for a small hydroponics operation.” 

“Any idea where they would keep prisoners?” Lance asked. 

Pidge zoomed in a bit. “Probably this chamber. All the way in the back. One way in, one way out, and about a click of solid rock and silicone on top.”

Lance noticed an odd bulk jerry-rigged to the helm. “What’s that?” 

Hunk glanced over. “Oh, you remember that thing I found in the junk-yard? Turns out it’s shielding for a ship of this size. Figured it was something you and Keith could use.”

Lance was honestly floored. Hunk made no secret of his general disapproval of how he and Keith operated. He had tried to tempt them back to the Garrison on multiple occasions. 

“Thanks, buddy.” Lance muttered. 

Hunk nodded, then looked back at the screens. He frowned. “Look, something’s happening.” 

They watched the movement on the surface. Pidge switched the scanners to infrared, and they saw six bright heat signatures approaching the base. Hunk sucked in a breath as the base started firing on the intruders, knocking one back almost instantly. 

“We need to get down there.” Lance said. 

“In the middle of an attack?” Hunk protested. “We’ll get killed.” 

“We’ll have armor. And guns. If Keith is down there, he’s way more likely to get caught in the crossfire. Or worse. Pirates don’t usually take prisoners. If they don’t see his value, they’ll just shoot him, and Keith’s not very good at talking himself up.” 

Lance didn’t leave any room for argument as he walked back into the living quarters and opened a weapons case. He took out a chest plate from the foam on the lid and snapped it over his enviro-suit. 

Back in the cockpit, he heard Pidge say, “Hunk, don’t.” 

“He’s going to get himself killed.”

“Well then we’d better suit up and go with him.” 

“Or we could, I don’t know, stop him.”

“Hunk, this is Keith we’re talking about here.”

“That doesn’t mean we should go in, guns blazing, no plan - “

“Lance always has a plan. Besides, we’re way better off than when we had been paladins for like a week and you insisted on freeing a Balmera.”

“That was totally different - “

“Yeah, like how we all have years of training now. Or the fact that this is one of our best friends we’re talking about, and I think we’ve lost enough friends, don’t you?” 

Lance finished clipping on his arm guards and pressed a comm into his ear, then took his scope and blaster out of the case. He attached the two as Pidge walked in, flipping open the lid on her own hard case that she had taken from the storage unit. She tossed her own green-accented envirosuit over her arm and ducked into the tiny bathroom to change. 

Hunk walked in, grabbed the case Pidge had packed for him, and walked back out. He returned a few minutes later, when Lance was snapping on his utility belt. He held a gun that Lance hardly ever used with the muzzle pointed sky-ward.

“Fit ok?” Lance asked. 

“Yeah.” Hunk sighed, looking down at the retrofitted Blade suit. “Just feels weird, being in one of these again.” 

“Here.” Lance walked over and took his friend’s arm, flipping open a small panel. “I think I know a way to help.” 

Lance circled his finger over the controls, cycling through hues of red, orange, and settling on brilliant gold. It wasn’t quite like the yellow and white of the paladin armor, but the pitch-black and brilliant gold was a startling combination. 

“Better?” Lance asked. 

“Yeah.” Hunk muttered. “Feels like home.” 

Lance smiled and patted him on the arm, stepping back. Pidge walked out, dressed and tucking a dagger into her belt. In her right hand she carried a bo-staff, which her brother had been teaching her to use. Lance had to smile at the thought of the three of them - blue, yellow and green. Just like old times. 

“Come on.” Pidge said, flipping up her hood and activating her face mask. “Let’s go get your man.”

~*~

Picking through the wreckage of the recent attack, Lance led Hunk and Pidge into the foreign base. In the corner of the hanger sat the bones of a ship, deconstructed for salvage. Once inside the doors, they fanned out. Hunk did a quick inspection of the nearest ship. 

“Engine’s destroyed.” Hunk said, looking over the small blast zone. 

“Same here.” Pidge said. “Looks like a shaped explosive. This is really professional work.” 

Lance rolled his eyes. “If we’re done with the art tour, I’d like to find my boyfriend now.” 

Hunk and Pidge fell back into line behind Lance, and they passed through smoldering blast doors to a command room. A tall, thin figure turned and raised a riffel. 

“Get down!” Lance yelled, diving behind a cargo container. 

Pidge crumpled on the ground next to him, and Hunk threw himself behind a control panel as shots rang out. Lance blindly fired over the cargo container, keeping the spray as wide as possible

“So much for being professionals!” Hunk shouted. 

“Shut up and return fire!” Lance yelled back. 

Hunk closed his eyes tightly and mimicked Lance, blindly shooting backwards over his head. A small round object bounced and clattered near Pidge’s leg. 

“Grenade!” Lance screamed. 

Pidge fumbled for the flashing sphere, then hurled it back where it came from. Seconds later it went off, and Lance felt the heat roll overhead as shrapnel made dents in the wall in front of them. Hunk coughed as the smoke reached them. 

“Pidge, never do that again.” he wheezed. 

“Okay, I’ll let us die next time.” Pidge grumbled. 

Lance stood and grimaced at the new destruction. Luckily, Pidge’s throw had gone wide and tossed the opposing shooter across the room as opposed to blowing them up. But still, several light fixtures were hanging by a thread and shooting sparks, and one of the control panels was on fire. He hauled Pidge up, then helped Hunk, before heading towards the crumpled figure that had been thrown into the wall. 

As soon as he got closer, and he saw the red and silver protective mask, he groaned. “God damn it.” 

“What?” Hunk asked quietly. 

“Drop your weapons, and put your hands on your head.” 

Lance winced at the familiar voice, but did as he was told. On either side of him, Hunk and Pidge did the same. 

“Turn around. Slowly.” 

The slowly turned in place. Three more figures in matching red and gold masks had guns pointed at them. A fourth stood with their arms crossed, no mask, regarding them with large ink-black eyes that took up a third of their face. Thick black wires seemed to grow from their skull, occasionally sparking with electricity. After a minute, she smiled. 

“Lance? That you?” 

Lance sighed and pressed the module at his temple, making his mask melt away. “Hey, Rashktha.” 

Lance had known Rashktha and her crew for a while. They were extremely organized for pirates - professional, as Pidge had noted earlier. Keith and Lance had fought with them several times, against them once or twice, and often ran into them in various ports. For how big the universe was, it was kind of a small world. 

“Ha!” Her smile turned into a grin. “I haven’t seen you since you and Keith came for my secondary pilot on Tenris. I still don’t understand how you managed to sneak through my ship undetected.” 

“Magician never shares his secrets.” Lance cautiously stepped forward. “So, what brings you to this hellhole?” 

“Same as you, I’d imagine. Got wind of some ammo stockpile here. Figures that Signorita would want a piece.” 

Lance frowned slightly at the mention of his twin sister. Rachel didn’t usually send people off-planet for raids, but then Keith did always warn him she was power hungry. 

“Who are your friends?” 

“Oh, uh, this is Hunk and Pidge. Guys, this is Rashktha, leader of the...well, it basically translates to Golden Pegasus.”

“More former Paladins.” Rashktha’s hair crackled. “It’s an honor.” 

The guns lowered at an unspoken command. Lance knew that the hair was a body mod that allowed Rashktha to communicate instantly with her team, as well as use her brain as a computer to hack whatever interface she plugged into. Lance decided that Pidge should never, under and circumstances, know the power of that hair. 

“Nice to meet you.” Hunk said, ever the diplomat. “Sorry about your soldier.”

“Can I touch your hair?” Pidge asked. 

Lance elbowed her. 

“So where’s Keith?” Rashktha asked as her team holstered their weapons and one of them went to help their knocked out comrade. “Yurun’s been waiting for a rematch.” 

Lance scratched the back of his head. “That’s actually why we’re here. Keith’s been taken.” 

Rashktha’s expression softened. “That’s...I’m sorry, Lance.”

Lance felt his throat constrict. “Have you found any prisoners?”

“Not yet. We’re unsealing the last room now. We can go take a look together.”

“If it’s alright, I’d like to take a look at the computers. What’s left of them.” Pidge said, stepping forward. “We know they took Keith here, but we’re not so sure about the how.” 

Rashktha nodded. “Of course. We’ll help in anyway we can.”

“I’m going to pick through this base, see if there’s anything we can use.” Hunk said in a low voice to Lance. “Look for that teleporter, while I’m at it.” 

Lance nodded, then grabbed his friend’s arm. “Don’t touch the ammo.”

“What - “

“I mean it, Hunk. There’s rules out here. Golden Pegasus won this fair and square. If I didn’t personally know them, we’d be viewed as vultures and probably shot. They get first dibs.” 

“Alright.” 

Lance released him and stepped closer to Rashktha. “So, what is this place, anyway? Aside from being the most hostile planet I’ve ever stepped foot on.” 

“Technically a moon.” Pidge called over, making Lance roll his eyes.

Rashktha gave him a sharp look. “You don’t even know what you’re chasing after? That’s unlike you.”

“There hasn’t been a ton of time to figure out who took Keith. I just need to get him back.” 

She shook her head. “There’s always time to do research, Lance. Time to breathe. I’ve heard you telling Keith that.” 

What he tells Keith is ‘patience yields focus’, and usually when he says it he’s mocking Shiro. But Rashktha seemed immune to sarcasm and Lance had given up trying to explain it to other species years ago. 

She turned and led him out of the room, down a narrow, sloping hall. “They call themselves the Trinity. Religious fanatics from Delta-Himoun. Usually they’re pretty quiet and insular. A few outposts, like this one, but they’d usually just do small smash and grabs to get supplies for their people.”

“Usually?” 

She grimaced. “We’ve been noticing spikes in their activity lately. Ammunition stockpiles, like this one. Three new bases popped up out of nowhere in the last pheobe. And they’ve suddenly become very active in the slave trade.” 

“What do they want with Keith?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Her hair cackled again. “Come on, they’ve almost got it open.”

“What did you do with the Trinity members who were here?” 

“There were only two. We have them locked on our ship for now. Most of their defenses were Galra Empire leftovers. Easy enough to deal with.” 

Lance followed Rashktha deep into the outpost, arriving at the final room just as two of her team finished burning through the doors. They attached magnetic clamps to each door and pulled them apart. Rashktha stepped through carefully, her heeled boots clicking on the metal floor. 

“Oh, stars.” Rashktha breathed. 

Lance peared over her shoulder to see two caged in cells, one empty and the other full.His heart sank when he didn’t see a mop of jet-black hair. Instead, about five grimy faced looking up at him through the grate. “Oh my...they’re children. Why do they have children down here?” 

One of the crew members rushed forward and made quick work of the lock and swung open the door. When he reached for the nearest child, they started to cry. Rashktha’s hair crackled lightning, and he backed off, but now the kids were staring at her with fear in their eyes. 

“Take off your mask.” Lance hissed. 

The crew members quickly did as they were told, but the damage was already done. Lance put a reassuring hand on Rashktha’s shoulder as he stepped around her and crouched in front of the nearest child. Lance didn’t know what species he was, but under all the dirt his skin was pale and blue, and slick black hair grew to his shoulders. 

“Hi.” Lance said softly. “My name’s Lance. What’s yours?” 

“Rune,” was whispered back at him. 

“Rune. That’s a nice name. Can you introduce me to your friends?” 

There were two galran kits, an olkari girl, and two other species that Lance didn’t recognise. Once Lance got them all to calm down and trust Rashktha and her men, he sent them with her. He stopped Rune before he went. 

“Rune, was there a man in here with you?” Lance asked. “That they took away?” 

Rune blinked at him, then slowly nodded. 

Lance let out a breath of relief. He was on the right track. 

Rune tugged his arm, then pointed at the empty cell. Lance shuffled him along towards the crew members, who put a reassuring hand on his back to lead him out. Lance picked the lock on the other cell and let himself in. He sat on the thin madding on the floor, letting out a long sigh as he tipped his head back against the metal wall. 

He could just see it. Keith, trapped here, sitting for hours on end, possibly in pain, torn apart at the sight of the children in the next cell. Waiting for an opening, waiting for his escape. 

Lance wondered if he knew he was coming for him. 

Lance put a hand down to lean on and push himself up, but felt a hard lump under the mattress pad. He flipped over the padding and found a carefully filed shank, and snorted. “Of course. Why am I surprised?” 

He looked at the floor and saw that Keith had scratched “MODERN LEPER” into the metal. Lance closed his eyes tightly and put the mattress pad back. 

He’d find him. He had to. 

~*~

_ “I don’t know why you’re making me do this.” Lance hissed at his twin.  _

_ “My guests want you to perform.” Rachel shrugged, studying her nails. “They tend to get what they want.”  _

_ Lance scowled and studied himself in the mirror. He had gotten nervous when he was getting ready for the shift he and Keith were working while trying to spy on the galran generals, and kept on applying body glitter. He probably had put too much on. Veronica had always told him that the longer she had to wait for a girl to pick her up for a date, the more she’d screw around with her makeup and end up looking uglier. Looks like Lance had fallen victim to the same habit. Keith hadn’t seemed to notice.  _

_ Keith didn’t seem to notice anything.  _

_ “Here.” Rachel sighed, putting a glass in front of him. “Drink this, and get out there. If you don’t want to sing for all of them, sing for Keith.”  _

_ Lance took the shot, wiped his mouth, and accepted his guitar from Triste. Rachel pressed a kiss into his cheek bone, then disappeared. He had told Keith the song was for him, but Keith probably didn’t believe him. Par for the course.  _

_ He feels almost dazed as he walks out on stage, blinded by white and blue light. He can see the body glitter under his eyes catching the light and reflecting up like disco balls. He looks out into the crowd, and he can’t see Keith. He’s not behind the bar, where he should be.  _

_ Lance sits on the edge of the stool someone had placed in front of the mic for him, and cradled his guitar. He tried to calm his breathing as he played the intro for the song. _

_ “ _ A cripple walks amongst you all, you tired human beings

He’s got all the things a cripple has not, two working arms and legs.”

_ Where was Keith? Where was Keith? Lance knows he’s supposed to be focusing on the mission but Rachel pushed him up on the stage and so now he just wants to tell Keith… _

_ He’s not whole. But he...can’t help but to be drawn to him anyway.  _

_ “ _ And vital parts fall from his system and dissolve in Rath Verian rain

But vitally, he doesn’t miss, and he’s too fucked up to care.

Well is that you infront of me?

Coming back for even more of exactly the same

And you must be a masochist to love a modern leper 

on his last leg, on his last leg.”

_ There. There he was. Leaving the keg room. He stopped and looked up at Lance, and something that looks a little bit like awe crosses his face.  _

_ “ _ Well I crippled your heart a hundred times and still can't work out why

You see, I've got this disease I can't shake and I'm just rattling through life

Well this is how we do things now, yeah this is how the modern stay scared

So I cut out all the good stuff, yeah I cut off my foot to spite my leg.”

_ Rachel appears next to Keith, and distracts him, and the moment is over. But now...Lance knows he can get his attention. At least for a moment.  _

_ So he keeps playing, even if Keith ignores him. He’ll make him watch.  _

~*~

Lance managed to collect himself and walk back out to the main control room. Pidge looked up at him sadly, but didn’t say anything. 

“Got anything?” Lance asked, proud that he can make his voice sound so steady. 

“Not yet. They’ve encrypted everything, I need time.” 

Hunk joined them with a bag he’d filled with supplied. A few ration packs poked out of the top. “Lance? Here.” 

Hunk held out a jagged luxite blade that Lance was all too familiar with. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he took it and stared at it, feeling the weight in his hands. 

“I also found a kennel, and some sort of collar. Looks like they found a way to keep Kosmo from doing his zappy thing.”

“But no Kosmo?”

“They must have taken him wherever they took Keith.” 

Rashktha came in, arms crossed. “Lance, where will you go next?” 

Lance shook his head. “I don’t know. Hopefully Pidge can find something in that computer so we can find out where they took Keith.” 

She hesitated. “Yurun is worried the Trinity will come back, and she’s not wrong. Leaving five children here...well, it’s a lot of money they’re leaving on the line. I’d suggest you come back to Eros Station with us.” 

Eros Station was a place Lance was fairly familiar with. Most of the jobs he and Keith did were run through there. All the major players had a foothold there, including Rachel. There was even a small Garrison security team based there, though they tended to look the other way unless there was a murder. They’d be better protected than on this hellish rock, and he might be able to find some information. 

Hunk was going to hate Eros Station. 

Sensing his hesitation, Rashktha said, “I’d be better able to help your friend decrypt the data there. And we need help transporting the children. With the Trinity members on our ship, the life support can’t handle the additional seven. We’d need you to take one or two.” 

Hunk glanced at Lance. “I thought you don’t usually take prisoners.” 

Rashktha’s mouth was a hard line. “You’re right, we don’t. But given the severity of their crimes, I thought death was too kind.” 

Lance refused to meet Hunk’s eyes. Places like Rath Veris and Eros Station, the places he and Keith had become unfortunately familiar with, probably looked lawless to people like Hunk. But they and their people operated under strict rules, ones that separated them from even worse places. Trying to sell children...Rashktha would present the Trinity members to a jury, but Lance already knew what the sentencing would be. Torture, by a professional, then sold into slavery with the wounds still raw. Eye for an eye, or some equivalent. 

“Lance,” Pidge said quietly, “we don’t know where we’re going. We can’t go anywhere until we do, so we don’t start zipping in the wrong direction. I know that time is of the essence but...I’m going to need help to decode this. Help and time.”

“Alright.” Lance said. “We’ll go to Eros. Hunk, can you help Pidge get what she needs? I’m going to see if I can find a few more chairs so we can strap the kids in.” 

Rashktha nodded. “I’ll bring the children over soon. And Lance, whatever you need, Golden Pegasus is at your disposal. You and Keith have helped me out more times than I can count.” 

“Thanks.” Lance spared Keith’s blade one last look before he tucked it into his belt. “I have a feeling we’ll need it.” 

~*~

Where did you go as the lights went black?

Look what’s become of me

I've grown to love your disappearing acts

Do one more pretty please

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's taking me forever to write these chapters, but you're getting really long chapters, so that kind of evens it out, right?
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! I appreciate all comments and kudos make my heart glow. Also, as always, if anyone is reading anything good I always love a suggestion!


	4. It's only just begun, it's been fun, we were fucked up and numb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Impatient and needy, yes.” Pidge grumbled. “Lance, I have spent the last two hours sifting through a mountain of shit - “
> 
> “Pidge.” Hunk reprimanded, looking over at the children who all were suddenly paying attention to the adults. 
> 
> “Mountain of sugar.” Pidge corrected. “Sugar...no, shit. I mean shit. It is a giant mountain of shit.” 
> 
> Hunk groaned and shook his head, hiding his eyes in his hand.

“Anything?” 

“Not yet.” 

“Now?”

“For fuck’s sake, Lance, asking me repeatedly will not make me work faster. We’ve been over this. Multiple times.” 

Lance huffed. Pidge glared at him over her laptop, while Rashktha lay on an old dentist’s chair with her brain plugged into the system. Her eyes were open, but instead of the usual plain black lenses stars danced across the void. The whole room was a mess of hard drives, connection cables, examination chairs and screens. During operational hours, Rashktha’s crew sold chair time for VR programs. 

“Lance, go help settle the children in.” Rashktha said, her voice coming from her mouth as well as every speaker in the room. “We’ll take a break soon.” 

A little shaken by Rashktha’s mouth moving and being immersed in surround sound, Lance made his way back to the main room. Many of the pirates and gangs and bounty hunters that Lance knew operated out of various businesses. Lotus, an Earth-based group, was almost as well known for their chain of jewelry stores as their drug smuggling network. Golden Pegasus had a small pub on Eros Station that they called home. 

Maybe that was what he and Keith needed. Some sort of front so they could have a home base. But then they’d need a crew, and Lance kind of likes it being just the two of them. 

In the main room of the bar, straw mat blinds have been pulled down over the windows to protect against unwelcome voyeurs. Most of the Golden Pegasus had made themselves scarce after returning home, some heading upstairs to get some sleep and others setting out on the station for other bars, brothels, or errands. 

Yurun had stayed behind, sipping imported soju out of a coffee mug. The thin, horned man had an odd habit of drinking alcohol from coffee mugs like he was trying to hide something. He and Hunk had settled the kids at one of the long, wooden tables and fed them soup. Hunk was gently wrapping one of the galran kits in a thick blanket. 

“Want some?” Yurun asked. 

“What flavor?” 

He held up the bottle and squinted at the label. “White plum.” 

“Sure.” 

Yurun grabbed a second coffee mug and poured some out for Lance. Hunk stood and joined them, shaking his head when Yurun offered the bottle. 

“That stuff just gives me a headache.” Hunk said. 

Yurun shrugged and topped off his own mug. 

“Talin, the Erusyan girl, she was taken from her family.” Hunk said, keeping his voice low and looking over his shoulder to check on the kids. They all ate with their heads down. “The others...well, if any of them have family they’re not talking about it.” 

“We’ll turn Talin over to the Garrison.” Yurun nodded. “They’ll be able to reunite her with her family.”

“What about the others?” Hunk asked. 

“If no one is looking for them, they’ll be placed with families here on the station. People who can feed them, take care of them. Rune looks old enough to be an apprentice, if he has an affinity for anything.” 

Hunk scowled. “I thought you didn’t sell children.” 

Yurun rose an eyebrow - or he would, if he had eyebrows. “Just because we’re out in the boonies doesn’t mean we’re uncivilized, Yellow Paladin. An apprenticeship will give Rune a bed, three meals a day, and an honest living. One day he’ll be able to provide for a family. Which is more than most of us are offered.” 

Hunk looked away, possibly ashamed. 

Lance swirled his soju. “Eros is kind of like...one big, weird family. A huge neutral zone. Everyone helps each other out here, Hunk. There’s problems, and grudges, like anywhere else. But this station has a code and everyone sticks to it. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Eros declares unity and independence someday.” 

The door to the back room opened again and Pidge and Rashktha walked out, Pidge stretching her arms over her head. Rashktha’s eyes had returned to their glossy black lenses. 

“Oh, God, my back  _ hurts _ .” Pidge groaned .”I’m getting old.” 

“Any progress?” Lance asked. 

Rashktha rolled her eyes. “Has he always been like this?” 

“Impatient and needy, yes.” Pidge grumbled. “Lance, I have spent the last two hours sifting through a mountain of shit - “

“Pidge.” Hunk reprimanded, looking over at the children who all were suddenly paying attention to the adults. 

“Mountain of sugar.” Pidge corrected. “Sugar...no, shit. I mean shit. It is a giant mountain of shit.” 

Hunk groaned and shook his head, hiding his eyes in his hand.

“They literally had one folder on their entire system that they dumped all of their files in. I’ve been wading through their manifesto for the better part of an hour. Some crazy, wacky stuff in there. I found the locations of their other bases, but nothing about Keith yet.” 

Lance let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. 

“We’ll get back to it soon.” Rashktha reassured. “We just needed a breather. It’s a mess in there.” She turned her attention to Hunk. “So, generally when I take people on, they work for their room and board. Pidge has already offered to debug our entire VR room.” 

“You’re not going to ask me to shoot anyone are you?”

Lance glared at him. 

“No, of course not. I was just hoping you’d run the kitchen while you were here. Unless you’d like to shoot someone.” 

“No, no! Cooking is good!” 

“Wonderful.” Rashktha turned her sharp smile onto Lance. “And I was hoping I could convince you to perform.” 

Lance smirked over the rim of his mug, deliberately misunderstanding her request. “Rashktha, you know that’s reserved for Keith’s eyes only.” 

Yurun rolled his eyes while Pidge made a gagging noise. 

“Just because he’s missing doesn’t mean I’m about to change my mind about that.”

“Believe it or not, Stardust, Keith’s the only being who wants your ass shaken in his face.”

“Pole dancing isn’t about shaking your ass.” Lance sniffed. “It’s a show of restraint, strength and flexibility. All worthy traits in a partner.” 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Rashktha’s hair crackled, but she kept her focus on Lance. “No, Lance, I would like to employ your voice this time. And your hands, once we locate the guitar I know we have in the attic.”

She looked pointedly at Yurun as she said it, but he didn’t move. 

Honestly, Lance doesn’t want to perform. He doesn’t want to be on stage, with all the attention on him. He’s gotten maybe twelve total hours of sleep since Keith went missing, and the only thing he’s ingested in the past day is that awful coffee and this sujo. Oh, and you know, Keith is  _ missing _ . 

But he also knows that if he refuses, he’ll either be offered a much less pleasant job, perhaps shooting someone, or be forced to pay a ridiculous amount of credits for a tiny filthy room somewhere else. Lance liked Eros station, but only because he and Keith usually stayed on their ship or with friends. So, he supposed he’d sing. 

“Fine.” Lance conceded. “If you can find that guitar. I don’t have mine.” 

Rashktha nodded, her hair giving an angry crackle. Yurun just opened another bottle of soju. They heard someone running across the floorboards upstairs. 

“I want to talk to the prisoners.” Lance said. “The Trinity members you captured. I need to talk to them before you hand them over.” 

It wasn’t really something that should have surprised anyone. The two chained up in Rashktha’s cellar had held Keith prisoner, at least for a little bit. If the computer files were really the ‘mountain of shit’ Pidge had described, it would be faster to get the information from a different source. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Rashktha said carefully. “What are you planning to do if they don’t talk to you?” 

“I’ll make them talk.” Lance said shortly. 

“Lance.” Hunk gasped. “You’re not going to...torture them, are you?” 

Lance turned to his best friend, hating he look he saw in his eyes.

“I told you, I’d do whatever it takes.” Lance reminded. 

Hunk’s mouth turned into a hard line. “That doesn’t give you carte blanche to hurt people. We’re supposed to be the good guys.” 

Lance let out a dry laugh. “We’re not kids anymore, Hunk. It’s not good guys and bad guys, cops and robbers.”

Rashktha and Yurun seemed to melt away, grabbing the children and slipping towards the staircase in the back. Pidge’s face was carefully neutral, eyes switching between Hunk and Lance as they volleyed. Lance is trying really hard to keep his arms flat by his sides as his temper rises, because his sisters used to tease him that he looks like a crazy chicken when he gets too worked up. Keith might have said the same thing a few times. Hunk’s arms are crossed over his chest, and his face is as impassive as marble. 

“So this morally grey thing you and Keith do means you can act like the Galra empire as long as you pretend it’s for some greater good?” 

“Oh, don’t act like you understand what Keith and I do.” Lance snapped. “You’ll just embarrass yourself. You have no idea what it’s like here on the outskirts.” 

“For God’s sake, Lance! You don’t have to do this! You and Keith could both have comfortable jobs anywhere you wanted! You don’t have to act like this is the only option for you!” 

“Has it ever occurred to you,” Lance snarled, “that we’d rather be out here, helping people in the way we best can, instead of sitting around bored to tears doing fucking paperwork!” 

“Helping people! You’re bounty hunters, Lance. How is that helping anyone?” 

“You think we’re just guns for hire? Really Hunk? After everything we’ve been through, you think I can be bought? We pick our jobs, Hunk. We choose who we work for, and what we take. Keith and I have put away way more of your so-called bad guys than the Garrison can claim responsibility for.”

Lance was shaking with the effort to keep his arms down. 

“And maybe I’ve learned to be cruel, and maybe I now know what a means to an end looks like. But don’t you think for one second that I regret any of it.”

“And you think I’m the one being childish?” Hunk snapped. “I’m worried about you, Lance. The rest of us are ready to grow up, move on. Even Keith is. But you insist on running around with these fantasies of some anti-hero and just dragging Keith along for the ride. One day, you’re going to take this too far, and you’re not going to be able to get out of it.” 

Lance was seeing red now, and Pidge was finally starting to look nervous. 

“If you keep standing in the way of me getting Keith back, I won’t ever forgive you.” Lance promised. “You always tried to keep me away from him, but I’m not going to let go now. No matter what you say, or if you decide to leave now.” 

“Well, maybe if you had just grown up and settled down, you wouldn’t have lost him in the first place.” 

Lance suddenly felt the urge to punch his best friend in the face. Did someone who said these things still deserve the best friend title? No, definitely not. To his credit, Hunk’s face is immediately filled with regret. 

Lance doesn’t punch him, no matter how badly he wants to and how much he may or may not deserve it. Instead, he finishes his sujo in two gulps and slams the mug down. 

“I’m going for a walk.” he says, and heads for the door. 

Outside the shop, the station corridor, or deck, or street, is fairly busy for off-hours. A courier whizzes by on a hover-board. Several mechanics rush by with trollies of parts. A gaggle of boys in school uniforms ran by, their voices and footsteps echoing off the station walls. 

“Lance! Lance! Come back!”

Lance pauses as Pidge catches up and grabs his arm. 

“Come on, Lance, he didn’t mean it. He’s just...you know how he is, he hates this stuff.” 

“Then why is he here?” Lance snapped. 

Pidge looked at him sadly. “He’s here for you.” 

Lance pulled away from her. “I need to cool off a bit.” 

“Lance - “

“I’ll be back soon.” Lance promised. “I just need something to eat. Before my big show.” 

Maybe Pidge tried to smile, but she mostly just looked sad as Lance turned back around and walked down Deck 23. 

Lance walked for a while without paying attention to where he was going, barely managing to get out of the way of the station’s residents getting on with their lives. He almost walked straight into a large tentacled being in a monk’s habit. His head swirled with sujo, Hunk’s angry words, Shiro’s apathy, and Keith’s smile. 

He’s on the other side of the station before he realized how far he’s wandered. All the way to Deck 47. He only realizes it because he’s outside a hot pot restaurant that is one of Keith’s favorite places in the universe to eat at. They went for what Lance supposed was their first date, when they were still figuring out how to make this new thing between them work, and then returned a lot since then. They always sat at the table under the big scrolls painted with flowers, and bickered over what to order but always got spicy broth and basically one of everything. 

_ “Stop taking my mushrooms, you didn’t even want them.”  _

_ “I ordered these, you ordered those.”  _

_ “No, I definitely ordered those.” _

_ A waitress walks by and hears them bickering. “More mushrooms?”  _

_ “No!” _

Lance is hungry, but hot pot for one is kind of sad and the only thing worse than going to Keith’s favorite restaurant without Keith would be going to Keith’s favorite restaurant with someone else. So he opts for the burrito cart across the street. 

Lance sits at one of the stools attached to the cart and orders, pretty content to just sit and mope for a while. Keith wouldn’t treat him like this if Hunk or Pidge were missing and they were together looking for them. Well, Keith might harass him to take better care of himself and to, like, eat, period, full stop. But then, Lance would probably be the one talking Keith out of torturing the two Trinity members in Rashktha’s cellar. 

Which Lance still thinks is a pretty good idea. Sue him. 

Lance doesn’t have to wonder what Keith would do if he were the one missing, because Keith already came looking for him once. When he was kind-of missing. And Keith has told him what he would do if he were actually in danger. 

_ I’d burn down the galaxy for you, _ he remembers being whispered in his hair. 

There’s probably something deeply wrong with Lance for thinking that’s at all romantic. But then again, his parents’ love story left him with some pretty high expectations. Which Keith definitely lives up to, when they’re not busy having those much-needed quiet lazy days. 

Was he being childish? Was his chosen life childish? He had never thought so. He did what he did because...well, he was restless. It was so hard to stay still. It was just easier to wander the universe, seeing where the space-winds took him. And he did the jobs because...well, sometimes he needed the money. Sometimes his sister just needed someone trustworthy. Sometimes it was just an itch in the back of his head that needed scratching, not a blood lust but just an addiction to challenge. And then other times he just saw someone who needed help. 

But to say he dragged Keith along? Keith was almost worse than he was! The worst part about when he was with the Blades was that he just seemed so bored and lifeless. But maybe Keith was getting tired of their life now. He was the one who had wanted to buy a house on Earth. Maybe Hunk was right, and Keith was trying to be the grown up. 

Lance looked miserably at the burrito placed in front of him. Like most space food, it looked slightly off. The beans were the wrong color and the protein looked more like octopus than imitation pork. But he bit into it and it didn’t taste like anything but it didn’t taste  _ wrong _ , so he took another bite. 

It’s not like Lance is trying to live some vagabond-pirate-bounty hunter fantasy like Hunk accused him of. This is just what he thinks is best for him to do, given his skill set. And Keith...well, Keith’s with him because that’s where he wants to be, right? Lance never pressured him to leave the Blade or anything. As much as they’re a good team and Lance loves having him right there all the time, it’s Keith’s choice. 

Hunk’s wrong, he tells himself, about a lot of things. But that doesn’t stop the hurt, or the fact that a lot of what he said had hit way too close to home. And okay, maybe he’s right about the torturing people thing but Keith has been missing for days. 

There’s Hunk who is an angel looking out for everyone’s moral well-being and then there’s Pidge, who embodies the Devil-May-Care attitude. Who’s literally along for the ride because she’d scared of falling in love and apparently this is the next best option. Who seems to think that Lance has some sort of plan for all of this. Maybe that’s the scariest part - Lance doesn’t have a plan. And he doesn’t know how to tell anyone that. 

“One mango-jalapeno smoothie please.” 

Lance was dragged back to reality by the sound of a familiar voice. A woman with long brown hair and a hard look in her eyes had sat next to him, wearing an old olive-green hoodie. There was a blaster burn through the left pocket, and the elbow was so worn down it was almost transparent. 

“What are you doing here?” Lance asked, dumbfounded. 

“My twin’s boyfriend went missing.” Rachel shrugged, eyeing him. “Figured, you know, since I’m a fairly powerful business woman with an expanding empire I might be in a position to help.”

“You’re a gangster on a black market planet.”

“I prefer mafia don.” Rachel accepted her smoothie with a word of thanks. “Why didn’t you call me? I have a warship. I could have helped.” 

Lance scowled. “Well, no one seemed to believe me when I said someone took him, so I figured I’d just take care of it myself. Why are you here?”

“Rashktha called me, told me what was going on.” Rachel sipped her smoothie, and made a face. “Why did no one believe you?” 

Lance ran a hand through his hair, gripping slightly. “I don’t know, Rach. Because we got in a fight? Because no one believes Keith Kogane could ever want to stay with me of all people?” 

“Hey, Eros is a pity-party free zone.” she knocked into his shoulder. “Keith loves you, alright?” 

“I know.” 

“Hey, really. You know what he told me? When he was looking for you? I told him he had to give me a reason for me to tell him where you were. I told him to think about it and come back. He went away, and came back and told me it wasn’t about what he wanted. It was about you.” 

“Fucking sap.” Lance mumbled. 

“Look, Lance. Keith’s loved you...for a really long time. I think we both know that. And I think that...this all wouldn’t bother you so much if you really believed that.” 

“I know he loves me.”

“But do you believe it?”

“Of course I do! Otherwise I would have sat at home and drank all of Marco’s fancy scotch and cried about how he left.” Lance pushed away his tasteless burrito. “I just want to bring him home safe. Then I’ll worry about all the other stuff.” 

“What other stuff?” 

So Lance told her. He told her about the fight, and the ring box on the video, and the argument he had with Hunk. He told her how he’s been overwhelmed with the vastness of the universe and the barest hint of a trail. How even Pidge was only along for the ride to escape her own problems. How maybe Hunk was right about him, and maybe Shiro was justified in waiting to act, and he’s just tired of constantly feeling like he has to justify what he’s doing. 

He loves his boyfriend, and he wants him back. It’s that simple. 

“You could of called me.” Rachel said when he was done.

“I assumed you were busy.” Lance mumbled. 

“Hey, I’ll drop everything for you and Keith, anytime.” Rachel smacked him on the back of his head. “That’s so you don’t forget it.” 

“Owww.” 

“Come on. Rashktha’s probably wondering where her star performer is.” 

The twins stood and left their mostly untouched food on the counter of the cart. Rachel looped her arm through Lance’s and rested her head against his shoulder as they walked. For the longest time they were always the same height. And then when Lance went to space he kept growing and his twin just...stopped. 

As they walked, Lance noticed three people moving in their orbit, close enough to protect his sister but not close enough to be noticed. One of them noticed Lance noticing, someone he didn’t know by name but had seen around Rachel’s club Azul before, and gave him a wink. 

“How many people do you have with you?” Lance asked. 

“Not many. Twenty or so.” 

Lance snorted. “Twenty’s kind of a lot.”

“Well I brought one of the warships, Lance. It needs crew to fly.” 

“You brought a warship?”

“Uh, yeah. This is a rescue mission. Even Triste is here. He insisted on coming to help.” 

Lance made a face. “Help how? By being a sarcastic shit? He’s never forgiven Keith for what happened to Alana.” 

“He’s never forgiven Keith for being too infatuated with you to give him a second glance. Alana was always just a convenient red herring for him.” 

He didn’t think that was true, but he didn’t think she was wrong either. Alana had been a beautiful, bright light in everyone’s lives. She had gone out of her way to help Keith, but some gangsters on Rath Veris misread her motives and had her killed. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, really, but Triste, a young Altean who was a beautiful dancer and Rachel’s second in command, had taken it really hard. Lance had held a gun to his head when he tried to stab Keith. 

But Lance rolled his eyes and carefully guided his sister around a group of mothers with their shopping. She pushed back against him when they got too close to a baby reaching out for her sweater with sticky hands. 

“I can’t believe you still have that jacket.” Lance muttered. 

“Well, it always reminded me of my baby brother. Shame that he lost his. We could have been twins.” 

Lance smiled slightly and didn’t say anything. Rachel gripped his arm a little tighter as they walked. Soon they were walking into Golden Pegasus’ bar, where Yurun and an Altean with a tattoo on the side of her face were setting up the bar. Rachel’s guard immediately settled in at a table. 

“I’m going to talk to Rashktha. Pay my respects.” Rachel reached up and kissed Lance’s cheek. “You should talk to Hunk.” 

Lance let out a long breath through his nose. Through the window in the swinging door, they could see Hunk puttering around in the kitchen. 

“Lance, you’ll hate yourself more if you just let it sit.” 

“I know.” 

“So, go.” She pulled away her arm and gave him a light push. “Yurun, your boss in the back?”

“Yes, she’s plugged in, Senorita.”

“Mind getting my boys something to drink?”

“We open at the sixteenth varga.” the Altean said. 

Rachel rose an eyebrow at her. 

“Right away, Senorita.” Yurun said respectfully, gently pushing the Altean out of the way. “First round is on us.”

“And the rest of my crew will be arriving shortly.”

“Wonderful.” 

Lance walked down the length of the bar and pushed through the door into the kitchen. His eyes instantly watered with the aromatics of onions, garlic and hot peppers. Hunk looked up, then quickly looked back at the pan on the stove.

“Can I help?” Lance asked. 

“No.” 

“Okay.” 

Lance leaned against the counter and tried to find words. “Look, I know - “

“Shay’s pregnant.” 

Lance stopped and gaped at him. 

“You asked what I was running from, and that’s it.” 

Hunk stirred the pan gently, but didn’t look up. 

“That’s...that’s great news, buddy.” Lance said quietly. “Congrats.”

“There’s never been a balmeran-human hybrid before.” Hunk continued as if he hadn’t heard. “There’s never been a balmera-anything hybrid before. Her family is worried. We’re not sure if there’s going to be complications or if the baby’s going to be healthy.” 

“Then why are you here?” Lance asked. “You should be with Shay.” 

“Well, if I remember correctly, someone stole a cargo ship and kidnapped me.” 

“If you had told me you had a pregnant wife at home, I would have made you go.”

“Yeah, well, Keith’s important to me too. You’re not the only one who loves him.” 

Lance crossed his arms over his chest. “I know.” 

“I’m sorry about...being a wet blanket? I guess?” Hunk said. “And everything I said earlier. I just...I’m really scared. I’m terrified. What if something happens to the baby? Or Shay? It keeps me up at night. Especially because...well, it would be my fault.” 

“It wouldn’t be your fault. How can you even think that?” 

Hunk shrugged. “It just would be.” 

Lance shook his head but didn’t say anything. 

“Anyway, I absolutely refuse to be a dad without my best bud around. And his boyfriend. So, you need to be here. And like...safe. I want...you and Keith to be role models. Even if you’re still running around and doing whatever, you can be weird space uncles if you want. But...you gotta be here. For me.” 

“Of course, buddy.” Lance paused. “Can we hug it out?” 

“Yeah, come here.” 

They hugged tightly. 

“You’re not being childish.”

“Hunk, it’s really okay - “

“No, it’s not.” Hunk squeezed him a little tighter. “You just scare me sometimes.”

Lance nodded, feeling a tightness in his throat. When they pulled away, he smiled as best he could. 

“You’re going to be a dad.” Lance grinned. 

Hunk sniffed and rubbed an eye. “Yeah, I know.”

“Oh, my God, you and Shiro are gonna be like...drowning in diapers. You’ll be like...diaper dad buddies.” 

“I’m sure there’s more to fatherhood than diapers.” 

“Not for the first few years.” Lance sniffed the air. “I think your onions are burning.” 

“No!” Hunk whipped around and pulled his pan off the stove, then frowned. “Oh, man.” 

“You sure you don’t want help?” 

“Nah, this’ll take two minutes to fix.” He scraped the destroyed onions into the trash. “I’ll take some company, though. If you’re not busy.” 

“Yeah. Sure thing.” 

Lance pushed himself up onto a seat on the counter top. 

“So, have you thought of baby names yet?” 

Hunk smiled slightly. “Well, we talked about Allura for a girl. But...it is the most popular baby name in the galaxy right now.”

Lance nodded. “You want your baby girl to be an original.”

“Yeah. So, maybe for the next one. If there is a next one. I don’t know.” 

Lance smiled at his excitement. 

“So, we thought maybe Stella instead. Shay liked the idea of naming our baby after the stars.” Hunk began chopping a fresh onion. “And then for a boy she wants Mori. It means peace.” 

“Those are both really good names, bud. I can’t wait to meet them. Have you talked to Shay recently?”

“Yeah, uhm, I’ve been sneaking off to call her.” 

“How is she?”

“She’s fine. Nothing...bad or weird happening. Not yet, at least.” 

“Have you told anyone else yet?” 

“Just our parents. We didn’t want everyone getting excited in case something happened.” 

Lance snorted. “Well, good thing you told me then. I don’t get excited about anything.” 

Hunk smiled and shook his head. “Okay, I had to tell one person who would get excited.” 

There was a commotion in the front room and Lance frowned and slid off the counter. 

“What’s wrong?” Hunk asked. 

“Probably just Rachel’s crew flexing.” Lance shrugged. “Stay here.” 

“Rachel’s here?” 

Lance pushed through the door. A few more members of Rachel’s crew had arrived, including Triste. Members of Golden Pegasus had returned from their various haunts. Everyone in the room had a gun out, but thankfully they weren’t pointing them at each other. Instead, they had them aimed at the three figures who had walked in with dark hoods pulled up. 

“We’re here for Lance McClain.” 

“Never heard of him.” Triste drawled. 

“Also known as Stardust, Blue Paladin, or Guitar Man.” 

Lance stepped forward. “Who’s asking?” 

One of the figures turned towards Triste. “Thought you’ve never heard of him.” 

“Oh, you meant that Lance McClain. Thought you meant the other one.” 

Lance was frowning slightly. There was something vaguely familiar about them. They were clearly using a voice distorter, and big loose jackets that covered their frames. But there was something about the way the one in the middle stood. 

They walked towards him. “Lance McClain, you are under arrest - “

“What?” Hunk yelled from the back.

“- for theft of government property - “ 

“Hold on a minute - “ Lance protested.

“- and for stealing my hat!” 

Everyone paused.

A giggle fought its way out of the would-be arresting officer, then it grew into a doubled-over belly laugh. Lance groaned. 

“God damn it.” he muttered. 

“The look on your faces!” the giggler heaved, reaching under their hood. “Oh, man, that’ll never get old.” 

“Stand down, everyone.” Lance grumbled. “Just my fucking evil sister.” 

“I thought Rachel was the bad one.” Hunk said, pushing his way through to stand next to Lance. 

“Hunk, buddy, we should all consider ourselves extremely lucky that Veronica went into government work, where she can be watched by superiors at all times.” Lance scowled at her as she pulled back her hood, her eyes still gleaming with mirth. “Are you done?”

“Will I get my hat back?”

“No.” 

The other two hoods came down, revealing Acxa, who Veronica doesn’t go anywhere without, and James Griffin, who still has stupidly perfect hair and Lance hates him for it. 

Sidenote, there’s plenty of other reasons Lance can hate James, mainly the fact that he’s kind of a dick, but the hair thing is the easiest. Also, James is mostly a dick because he’s socially awkward, and seeing as Lance is in love with the king of socially awkward people, he’s not allowed to get upset at James for being a dick. 

So, Lance scowls at James as he runs a hand through his hair and it goes  _ right back where it’s supposed to like a goddamn cartoon  _ and says, “What the fuck are you doing here?” 

“We’re here to find Keith.” Acxa said shortly, shrugging out of her jacket. “Your trail was not hard to follow. Zethrid and Ezor will join us shortly.” 

Lance cursed and looked at the ceiling. Great, the lesbian brigade was here. As if the pub wasn’t crowded enough. 

Hunk eyed them all suspiciously. “So, you’re all on leave then?” 

Veronica barked out a laugh. “Hell no! At first, we were sent to arrest you all! There was a warrant out for Lance and everything! Then Shiro realized that Keith actually was missing and changed our orders. Apparently he’s not allowed to take the Atlas out to rescue his brother again, so he sent us instead.”

Lance winced at the memory of the lecture he’d received when helping Rachel acquire her aforementioned warships shortly before Shiro’s wedding. He had thought his plan of sitting tight and waiting for big brother Shiro to come and rescue himself and Keith from the pirates had been pretty good, all things considered. Shiro had not been impressed, but then again he had thought that Lance and Keith had attacked the pirates for fun. 

There’s a commotion as Rashktha, Pidge and Rachel emerge from the VR room, Rashktha’s hair cackling as she cooly observes the Garrison intruders. Rachel quickly cuts through the crowd to stand with her siblings. 

“You, I definitely should arrest.” Veronica scowls. 

Rachel gives her older sister a sharp smile. “Just try it, sister dearest.” 

“Guys, please don’t fight.” Lance beggs, stepping between them for the millionth time. 

It had probably always been like this. The two McClain girls fighting, and Lance stepping between them. He loved them both so much, and when he was younger he just didn’t understand why they couldn’t get along. Now that he’s older, he understands that they love each other, they’re just too similar. Veronica looks at Rachel making all the mistakes that she made herself, and can’t stand it. And Rachel will never be out of Veronica’s all too perfect shadow. Now that they were on opposite sides of the law...well, Christmas was interesting, to say the least. 

“You’re both here to help me find Keith, right?” Lance asked, looking between them desperately. “We’re gonna have to work together.” 

Rachel looks up at the ceiling and huffs out a breath. Veronica looks at the floor and mumbles something like a “yeah”. 

“Where is Kogane, anyway?” James asked, helping himself to a seat at the bar. 

Lance rubbed his face and let Pidge explain that she was still working on it. God, it had been such a long day. A long week, really. Did it count as multiple days if he hadn’t slept? 

Around him, now that no one was pointing guns at anyone anymore, people began to relax and settle in. Hunk retreated back into the kitchen to try to salvage dinner, and the Altean bartender was handing out drinks. Rashktha was hanging a closed sign on the window - it was way too crowded to even think about entertaining regular guests - and the noise had attracted the children, who hid on the stairs and watched through the banisters. 

Rachel and Veronica still weren’t looking at each other.

“Guys, come on.” Lance needled. “I love that you’re both here. But if you’re gonna help me, you both need to put it aside for a few days, okay?”

“Fine.” Rachel bit out. 

“Alright.” Veronica mumbled. 

“I gotta get something from my room. I’ll be back in a minute.” 

It’s a lie, and a pretty bad one, but he just needs a minute to himself. It had been a hellish day. Rachel turning up after everything else was one thing, but Veronica as well was just icing on the cake. Because Rachel was cold and power hungry, but Veronica is literally made of sharp smiles and ambition. 

And now they’re both here, with their teams and supplies and their helping and Lance has no idea what to tell them. There’s no plan, other than  _ find Keith _ . 

He’s going to go insane if this day gets any worse. 

Lance stepped over the kids on the stairs and found his way to the third bedroom on the right, the one he and Keith usually took. Someone, Yurun probably, bless him, had already moved his bags into the room. 

It wasn’t much. Just what barely qualified as a double bed, a small table and a pair of stools, and a ceiling fan. Lance’s favorite part, though, was the small window that looked out over the deck outside. 

Lance sat on the bed next to his bags and rested his forehead on his hand. He was so tired, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep. 

He wanted Keith back, sitting near the window with his face being lit by the deck lights. He wanted the reassurance that he wasn’t alone. He wanted his life back. 

_ When Lance was sixteen, blasting off into the unknown, he dreamed of the hot alien babe he’d meet and take back to Earth. He’d never imagined it was the person sitting next to him the whole time.  _

_ Lance is tired, and sore. It had been a long day. It’s hot in the small room, and the ceiling fan isn’t doing much to help. He’s trying to sleep, but he can’t. Keith is sitting up and reading something on a tablet, his long hair hanging in front of his beautiful pale face, his legs stretched out and propped up on the bed. Kosmo is curled up by the door, chewing on a bone one of Rashktha’s crew gave him. His back paw is wrapped in a bandage, and occasionally he nips at the bandage instead of the bone. _

_ As far as hot alien babes go, this one isn’t as different looking from himself as he expected. Not the gender he expected either, if he was being completely honest.  _

_ “What’s wrong?”  _

_ Lance focused to find Keith frowning over the top of his tablet at him.  _

_ “Everything okay?”  _

_ “Yeah. Everything’s perfect.” Lance stretched out and brushed his fingers on Keith’s ankle. “Just finding it hard to sleep.”  _

_ Keith lowered the tablet to his lap. “Why?” _

_ “No reason.”  _

_ Keith considered him. “What are you thinking about?”  _

_ “Just how good everything turned out.”  _

_ Keith rose an eyebrow at him. “We’re basically homeless. Our ship is half destroyed. Our space wolf has a broken paw. Acxa basically ensured we’re never going to be welcome on Enris again. And your sister owes us two thousand credits, which we desperately need.” _

_ “Yeah, but I get to have you.” _

_ Keith’s lips twisted into a smile. “Sap.”  _

_ Lance reached out for him. “Come here?”  _

_ “I thought it was...what were the words? Oh, right, ‘too hot to cuddle because all Galra are furnaces, even if you’re only half’.”  _

_ Lance whined and made a grabby motion with his hands. Keith sighed and gave in, like he always did, and stood briefly before slipping into his arms. After a moment of adjustment, Lance found himself happily nestled into Keith’s chest. And yeah, in about half an hour he’ll probably be unbearably hot but Keith’s steady heartbeat and his fingers tracing the divet of his spine made it totally worth it.  _

“Lance?” 

Lance’s head snapped up. Veronica was standing in the open doorway with a guitar in her hand. 

“We’re waiting for you downstairs...you alright?” 

Lance took a deep breath and nodded. 

Veronica stepped into the room and sat on the bed next to her brother. She set the guitar down and hesitated for a moment before saying, “Me and Rachel will be fine. We just need to...I don’t know, flex a bit. But we’re here for you, and for Keith. Alright?”

“Yeah. I know.” 

“God, just wish she’d relax a bit, you know?” Veronica sat back and looked at the ceiling. “I’d say she needs to get laid, but she’s down there cosying up to Griffin. They’ll probably just morph into one giant ball of stress instead of getting any actual release.” 

Lance didn’t react. 

“Oh, come on, that was funny.” Veronica nudged him. “And you hate Griffin. Where’s that famous McClain, ‘I’ll kick their ass if they touch my sibling’ bravado?” 

“I’ll give him the third degree after we get Keith back.” Lance mumbled. 

Veronica rubbed his shoulder. “We’ll find him, Lance. I promise.” 

Lance nodded. “I know.” 

“And when we do, we’re all going to load up in Rachel’s ship, and you’re going to lead us, and we’ll get him. And we’ll show everyone what happens when you mess with our family.” 

Lance let out a sigh and tipped his head onto his oldest sister’s shoulder. “I don’t even know where to begin. I’ve dragged everyone halfway across the universe and I don’t even know where to start.” 

“Well, Pidge should have a location soon. And once we have that, we can make a plan. Just like any other mission, one step at a time.” Veronica patted his back lightly and stood. “Come on, Ziggy Stardust. Your adoring troops await.” 

~*~

_ Now the time has come I just wish I could erase _

_ All the damage done, all this pain, all this heartache _

_ It's only just begun, it's been fun, we were fucked up and numb _

_ There's a killer on the corner and he's looking for love _

_ He's, looking for love _

_ Yeah he's looking for (you my love) _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm...this was an emotionally exhausting chapter and I'm sorry. I tried to put some humor in, instead of just constant pining and missing Keith. 
> 
> Also, sisters fight. It's what they do. And everyone knows how much I love contrasts. 
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	5. Where did you go when the lights went black?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James Griffin pushed through the door, already showered and dressed. He and Rachel carefully avoided eye contact, but Rachel blushed anyway. 
> 
> “Gross.” Lance mumbled at the eggs. 
> 
> “Coffee?” James asked. 
> 
> “We’re out.” Veronica said shortly. 
> 
> “Tea?” 
> 
> “Rashktha doesn’t keep it.” Lance lied. 
> 
> Griffin sighed, ran his fingers through his hair, and walked back out the door. 
> 
> “Can’t you just be nice to him?” Hunk asked. 
> 
> Veronica smirked over the rim of her paper cup. “I think Rachel was plenty nice for the rest of us last night.” 
> 
> “Bite me, Ronnie.” Rachel grumbled.

Lance woke up groggy. Rachel had insisted he take some of the sleeping aids she kept in her purse. They knocked him out, sure, but he didn’t feel rested. He had played a few songs, eaten dinner and then slipped away. He wasn’t in the mood to party till the small hours of the morning like everyone else. 

It seemed like it had been a good one, though, Lance observed as he stepped through the wreckage in the bar. Yurun was passed out on the bartop with his hands folded on his chest like a vampire. All the tables and chairs had been pushed out of the way to make room for a dance floor. It looked like someone had attempted to clean up a broken glass but missed the majority of the mess. Most flat surfaces were covered in clusters of half empty glasses. 

Lance shook his head at the mess and pushed into the kitchen. He opened a few cabinets and found a stockpile of the god-awful Garrison issued instant coffee, and a box of that strong irish tea that Keith would always drink. Lance scowled at his predicament - nasty coffee, or nasty tea. 

He could almost see Keith smiling at him over the rim of a mug, saying,  _ “Just drink the tea, Lance. If you hate the instant coffee so much, the tea is just as strong and doesn’t taste like tinfoil.”  _

And he would say,  _ “You keep your nasty leaf water to yourself.”  _

Lance grabs a cup of instant coffee. Some things were just a matter of principal. 

After he made his nasty coffee, he scrounged around for breakfast and came up with some rust colored eggs and a slab of imitation pork. He checked the label on the eggs and made sure they were safe for him to eat, and not weird before cracking one open. Well, they may be safe but they were weird. The yolks were an acidic purple color. 

Space food. He’d never get used to it. 

While the eggs cooked he found a knife and carefully started cutting off strips of bacon. The door swung open and Veronica and Hunk walked in. Veronica carried Rune on her hip, who rubbed his eyes and rested his head on her shoulder. 

“Morning.” Lance greeted, laying out the bacon on a sheet tray the way Keith showed him. 

Hunk grunted at him and opened the fridge to find juice. Veronica carefully placed Rune on a counter and then went into the cabinet for coffee. She made a face at the options but pulled out two of the instant cups. 

Hunk chugged half his juice and started helping Lance pull breakfast together. Veronica took her coffee and left the room, floating out with barely a sound. Lance dove back into the fridge to find ingredients, cheering when he found Rachel’s beloved marinated eggplant. 

“Are you excited to be living on Eros Station?” Hunk asked Rune. 

The young boy shrugged and studied his swinging feet. 

“It’s not so bad here.” Lance offered, passing the fresh veggies he found to Hunk to chop. “Probably me and Keith’s favorite station to visit. Mostly because of Rashktha, but it’s not a bad place. People get along, help eachother out. No shortage of work, either. This place will thrive for at least a few decades.” 

“Who’s Keith?” Rune asked quietly. 

Lance paused, almost shocked that someone  _ didn’t _ know who Keith was. 

“He’s our friend.” Hunk explained patiently. “And Lance’s boyfriend. He’s missing. That’s why we’re here. To find him.” 

Rune tilted his head. “Boyfriend?” 

“Uhm…” Hunk glanced at Lance to find a word that would translate better. “Life partner?” 

“Oh.” Rune smiled. “His mate.” 

Lance’s mouth twisted in distaste at the word. Mate always just seemed so...animalistic to him. And somewhat demeaning. It took months for Keith to get Krolia and Kolivan to stop using it to describe him. 

“I prefer soulmate.” Lance said dryly. 

“What does...zoulmate mean?” Rune asked. 

“It means...two halves of a whole.” Lance closed his eyes and tried to remember what he had told Keith years ago. “Compliments. Someone who makes you better than the day before.” 

Rune considered. “Like Talin and Reyusa?” 

Lance glanced at Hunk, who explained, “Acxa and James tried to take Talin to the Garrison last night before the party got too crazy. Talin flipped out, wouldn’t leave without Reyusa. Veronica said she’d try to convince Talin’s family to take Reyusa on, or find nearby placement for her.”

Lance shook his head. It seemed his ambitious sister had a heart after all. Rune still looked like he wanted an answer. 

“Yeah, bud.” Hunk smiled. “Like Talin and Reyusa.” 

Lance put some of the marinated eggplant in a glass dish, and set it in the oven under the bacon tray. Veronica pushed back into the kitchen, this time with Acxa and Rachel. Acxa stoically sipped her coffee while Veronica nuzzled the crook of her neck, and Rachel drew her bathrobe tighter as she slumped against a counter. 

“Morning sunshine.” Lance mocked. 

“Fuck off.” Rachel mumbled. 

“Rachel, there’s little ears present.” Hunk reminded. 

James Griffin pushed through the door, already showered and dressed. He and Rachel carefully avoided eye contact, but Rachel blushed anyway. 

“Gross.” Lance mumbled at the eggs. 

“Coffee?” James asked. 

“We’re out.” Veronica said shortly. 

“Tea?” 

“Rashktha doesn’t keep it.” Lance lied. 

Griffin sighed, ran his fingers through his hair, and walked back out the door. 

“Can’t you just be nice to him?” Hunk asked. 

Veronica smirked over the rim of her paper cup. “I think Rachel was plenty nice for the rest of us last night.” 

“Bite me, Ronnie.” Rachel grumbled. 

Pidge walked in with her arms stretched over her head and her mouth split open in a yawn. “What crawled up Griffin’s ass?” she asked. 

“My incredibly rude siblings.” Rachel glared. 

“Gross. Why would they want to go there?” Pidge rummaged in the cupboard and came back out with a coffee. “I must be getting old. I can’t stay up all night the way I used to.” 

“You seemed like you were having a good time last night.” Lance said, remembering Pidge dancing on a table top and chanting a drinking song. 

Her combat boots drummed out a steady beat as she sang,  _ You can drink your fancy ales, you can drink them by the flagon, but the only brew for the brave and true...come from that Green Dragon. _

“It’s good to blow off some steam every now and then.” Pidge agreed. “I sobered up around three and got some real work done. De-bugged the VR room, reorganized Rashktha’s file system, and found Keith. So - “

Lance dropped his spatula and whipped around. “You found him?” 

“I think so.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” 

Pidge rolled her eyes. “I tried to, but you had taken enough downers I couldn’t get you up. I actually thought you were dead for a few minutes.” 

“Where is he?” 

“Iritas. The fourth moon of Wreynan. I have a whole presentation and everything. We can go over it when you finish making breakfast.” 

Lance stared at her. 

“Well? Eggs, please.” 

“I’ll go wake the others up.” Veronica offered, untangling herself from Acxa and leaving the kitchen again. 

Acxa picked up the fallen spatula and gently moved Lance away from the stove so Hunk could take over. She looked him over and nodded slightly. 

Hunk quickly finished the food and put everything in large serving dishes, set up in a buffet line on the counter. Everyone grabbed a plate and headed back out to the bar, where a few of Rashktha’s crew were slowly cleaning up the mess from the night before. The tables were pulled away from the walls and pushed together to create one long meeting table. Rashktha, Griffin and Veronica were already sitting down, and Triste was slumped in a barstool with a blanket over his head. Lance took the place at the head of the table and Pidge sat to his left. Rachel claimed the place to his right. 

Rashktha’s hair crackled and her crew slithered out of the woodwork, either into the kitchen to grab a plate or immediately settling at the table. The unspoken message made Yurun jolt awake and roll off the bartop, landing gracefully on his feet. 

Pidge took a few bites of her eggs before pulling a tablet and a small mechanical ball from her pockets. She tossed the ball into the air above the table where it bounced twice before lighting up and floating on its own. Pidge tapped on the tablet and the ball projected the screens image into the air, rotating slowly. 

A starmap, detailing the Trentus system. With its planet Wreynan, and its moon Iritas. The only thing missing was the label, Keith is here. 

“So, friends and frenemies,” Pidge greeted, “I found him. Keith is here. Not even a four-point zip from our current location. This moon is a major pilgrimage site for the True Believers, which is the more mile flavor of religion that Trinity also believes in. True Believers, of course, don’t allow Trinity to have a base on Iritas, but they are allowed to visit for religious rights.”

“It’s pronounced Iritas.” Yurun corrected. 

“Iritas.” Pidge repeated. 

“No. Iritas.”

Lance caught Hunk’s eye. 

“Why do they have Keith there?” Acxa asked. 

Pidge flipped to another screen. “This is from their manifesto. Now, the True Believers believe that gods walked among the stars thousands of years ago, and all life are descendants of those beings. As far as religions go, this one is actually pretty nice and fluffy. Not many infidels who need killing.” 

“Something tells me Trinity doesn’t exactly feel the same.” Hunk said. 

“Not exactly. Trinity wants to bring back one of these living gods, part of some superior race song and dance. Nothing we haven’t seen before.” 

“What do they want with Keith?” Lance asked. 

Pidge grimaced. “Keith’s biology is...well, pretty unique. Even as far as Galran-hybrids go. According to their files, they’ve been looking for someone with certain characteristics. Things like...strength. Speed. Good reflexes. Maybe even some shape-shifting abilities.” 

Lance snorted. “Keith can’t shape-shift.” 

“Well what do you call it when his eyes go all yellow and his teeth get pointy?” 

“...a bad-kitty day?”

Veronica shook her head. “What he sees in you…” 

“Anyway, they’ve been through a few other candidates, but they think they have it this time. They’re going to channel one of their supreme beings and turn Keith into a living god. And probably kill him in the process.” 

Lance leaned back in his chair and felt his heart sink. 

“Is that why they had the kids as well?” Hunk asked. 

“No. Their manifesto claims that priests must be taken from everything they’ve known at a young age. For True Believers it’s voluntary, at least on their parent’s part. But Trinity...not so much. Most likely any kids who doesn’t make the cut they sell.” 

Yurun made a disgusted noise. 

“I managed to get some correspondence off the computers as well. The ritual is scheduled for three cycles from now. Trinity members from across the quadrant will be pouring in, mixed in with regular True Believer pilgrims. We’re going to need a pretty solid plan if we’re going to get Keith back.” 

The room quieted, and Lance realized it was because everyone was looking at him. Because he was supposed to have the plan. 

_ “You’re the Black Paladin.” Lance reminded.  _

_ “It should have been you.”  _

He remembers Keith sitting on the edge of the pool, kicking his feet slightly in the water. Looking down at him with the barest smile on his lips. 

_ “I think about it a lot.” Keith admitted, while Lance refused to look at him. “Why Black chose me when I wasn’t ready. Some days, I think, maybe it was because Red needed you. Other days I wonder if Shiro interfered.”  _

_ “You don’t have to say it to make me feel better.” Lance grumbled. “I don’t need - “ _

_ “I’m not.” Keith’s voice was harsh, but then he softened it. Used that gentile voice he reserved for Lance. “I mean it. You’ve always been...better. At this. At...getting people together. Us together. Getting us to work for you. Do you remember when I came back? When Shiro - or the clone - went nuts?”  _

_ Lance was silent.  _

_ “I didn’t even know what to do.” Keith admitted. “It was just too much. You didn’t even hesitate. You just took charge, covered all the bases.”  _

_ “It didn’t make a difference.” Lance mumbled.  _

_ “You couldn’t have known that Shiro would attack.”  _

_ Lance’s brow furrowed. “I knew something was wrong with him. I just didn’t…” he sighed, and rubbed his face. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. It’s all in the past.” Lance finally looked at him. “If...if Black had chosen me, would you have stayed?”  _

Keith had never answered him. 

He looked around the room. His sisters, putting aside their differences to help him. Griffin, there because he was ordered to be and maybe slightly because of the grudging friendship he had with Keith. Acxa, who respected Keith above anyone else. Triste, there because Lance had saved his life more than once on covert jobs for Rachel. Pidge, once again ready to risk everything to save her family. Hunk, accidentally along for the ride again but there as the grounding force in spite of everything going on in his home life. Rashktha, Yurun, all of Golden Pegasus, there only because Lance had asked for help. 

Between the whole ragtag group, he had two warships and a collection of jets at his disposal. About fifty warriors disciplined in all manner of fighting. A literal treasure trove of weapons. Three stippers, five bartenders, one diplomat. All he had to do was make one call, and the remaining Blades of Mamora would take up arms again. Not to mention, the best hacker in any system and the universe’s most lovable engineer. Plus a gang-leader with really cool hair. 

And they were all looking to him. 

“Okay.” Lance breathed. “Okay. Pidge, I need every map and scan of Iritas you have. I need a line to Coran, and someone needs to call Krolia and let her know we’ve found her son and if she wants to help she can meet us there with whatever forces she can get. Griffin, I know you and Veronica keep real coffee on your ship and I’m going to need all of it.” 

“Stardust, we can’t launch a full-scale invasion of a religious moon.” Triste muttered. 

Lance slammed his fist into the table and stood. “Keith was missing, and now we’ve found him, and I’m going to get him back.” Lance snarled. “Do not tell me what I cannot do in order to do that. If you don’t want to help, fine, go back home. I’ll do it by myself if I have to.” 

Everyone was silent. 

“Does anyone else have any concerns?” 

Veronica stood. “I’m going to call Shiro. Update him. Maybe we can find a way to stop travel onto Iritas. The less civilians around the better.” 

Lance sighed and rubbed his eyes. He didn’t want Shiro here, but he probably didn’t have a choice in the matter. “Fine. I still want coffee.” 

“Griffin, get the man his coffee.” 

Rashktha stood, her hair crackling. “We’ll start making preparations to leave now. There’s no time to waste. Yurun, I want every pair of hands to be holding a gun and ready to board a ship in less than three vargas.” 

“Yes, Rashktha,” the bartender murmured with more respect than he usually displayed. 

Acxa pushed a plate of food closer to Lance. “Eat. You’ll need your strength. I’ll call Krolia.” 

~*~

Lance leaned against his sister’s chair and studied the scans of the moon in front of him. Keith was down there. Probably near the temple. There was a safe house somewhere. They’d find it. Lance had a plan. 

“Mamorans are cloaking their call signals.” Triste called, tapping commands into the dash in front of him. “Veronica’s ship never seemed to have any in the first place. That’s comforting.” 

“You know, everyone is so concerned by me having a warship, but Veronica has a spy ship and no one bats an eye.” Rachel grumbled.

“Veronica works for the military.” Lance reminded. “You’re a mafia don. Also, you have two warships, both of which are worth ten spy ships.” 

“Yeah, but Veronica’s like way more ruthless than me. Remember when she broke your tablet because you smudged her nailpolish?”

Lance smiled slightly. “Yeah. Fun times.” 

“Alright, Tim, take us in.” Rachel ordered. “Lance, you should head down to the flight deck.” 

“Yeah. Come on, Triste.” 

Triste typed a few more commands before giving up his station. Someone seamlessly took his spot as he and Lance left the command deck. Lance checked that he had Keith’s knife strapped to his hip. He’d be able to return it in a few hours. 

“Stardust?” 

Lance looked over at Triste, who had stopped next to his sleek fighter jet. 

“It’s going to work.” 

“Yeah.” Lance nodded. “I know.” 

Triste hesitated. “I know I said we can’t launch a full invasion but...I know you think he’s worth it.”

“Yeah.” Lance sighed. “He is.”

Triste entered his ship, and Lance walked into his. Inside, Pidge and Hunk were strapping into their retrofitted seats. Lance felt his mind start to wander towards everything that could go wrong today, and he had been on enough missions by now to recognize it and redirected it. 

Instead, he started listing the things he’d do when it was all over. On the after. When Keith was here, and whole. 

First, he’s getting this ship furnished. Properly. Make it look nice, and comfortable. Get his coffee maker, and the proper storage container to keep beans fresh. 

Second, he’s taking Keith on vacation. Literally anywhere, the only requirement was that they were secluded and alone. He was going to make love to his boyfriend for  _ days _ , even if he needed chemical help to do it. He didn’t want anyone else hearing that. 

Third, and last, he’s going to focus on settling. He’s going to give Keith whatever he wants. If that means a house, and a ring, and whatever else, that’s what it means. Because the past week had reaffirmed something he had learned twice the hard way - his life without Keith in it was something he had little interest in.

“Lance.” Hunk said. 

Lance looked up. 

“Let’s go get Keith.” 

~*~

“Team Lilac in position.” 

That meant that Veronica, Griffin and Acxa were stationed at the back door of the Trinity compound. 

“Green Team in position.”

Several of the best marksmen and spotters the Blade and Rachel could offer positioned in various buildings around the religious city. Iritas was a bright dessert moon, white sand lit by a bright young star, and the ever-present red gas giant it orbited visible on the horizon. 

“Team Orange in position.”

That meant the warships were safely just out of range, but close enough where they can drop in as needed. 

“Blue Team in position.” Rachel’s voice came over the comms. “Boring Team, more like.” 

Rachel and her best pilot Lira stationed in a shuttle just a block away, ready to swoop in and lift them all away from the building. 

“I told you to come with me.” Veronica said mildly. 

There was a pause and then, “Fuck it, I’m on my way.”

Lance gritted his teeth. “I swear to God, we’re all in position. We’re not waiting.”

“Don’t. I’ll catch up.” 

Lance wanted to scream. God, he hated his sisters. He would almost prefer if they didn’t choose now to want to get along.

“Fine.” he grumbled instead. “Lilac Team almost in position and Blue Team being abandoned by their CO. Gold Team?”

“Ready when you are, Stardust.” Triste replied. 

From Lance’s position, he could see Triste leaning against a low wall and speaking into his wrist. A few more of Rachel’s crew dotted the crowds of pilgrims and tourists, blending in just in case crowd control was needed. 

Lance looked to his left. Krolia stood there with a handgun pointed at the ground, and a white scarf draped over her head. She nodded curtly. Behind her, Hunk and Pidge stood at the ready, as well ay Rey’un, an expressive Blade who always blamed Keith for her worst nightmare coming true - being promoted to commander. 

Lance had tried to give Krolia Keith’s blade earlier. Technically it was hers anyway. But she had gently pushed his wrist away. 

“You can give it to its proper owner when we get him back.” she had said, not unkindly. 

“Red Team ready.” Lance breathed. “Okay. Let’s move before someone notices us standing around out here like a bunch of degenerates." 

Pidge moved forward and latched a gadget onto the keypad next to the compound door. Hunk adjusted his headscarf to better conceal his gun and looked out at the crowd. 

“You know, we should go for the headscarf look more often.” Hunk said mildly. “It really helps keep the sun off.”

“Not much for fashion, though.” Rey’un commented, tugging on her sleeve. The mumu she had on was a lot looser than anything Lance had ever seen any Galran in. 

“I think you look stunning, Hunk.” Lance said. 

“Thank you.” 

Lance had to smile when Hunk stood a little taller. 

“Alright, got it.” Pidge said, as the gadget released and popped off the wall. “We’re in.” 

“Team Green, lights and cameras, please.” 

“Heard, Red Leader.” 

“Be ready, Gold.” 

“We are, Stardust.” 

There was no sound from the shots, but there was a sound of a small explosion as the electrical panel near the building blew. It wouldn’t do much other than disable the outer alarms and knock out cameras and shut down the first floor lights. Which was just enough to get them inside. A few pilgrims near the box quickly jumped away, but Lance and his team were already inside. 

Rey’un ripped her mumu over her head before the door was even shut all the way. Her comms glowed in the dark, illuminating the edges of her face with a cold blue light. Emergency lights were already flicking on, and Rey’un took point as the rest of the group stripped off their various disguises and fell in. 

“Lilac Team, come in.”

“We’re with you, Stardust.” Veronica answered crisply. 

“Signorita with you yet?” 

“Yeah, we’ve got her. Do you see anyone yet?”

“Negative.”

Lance pushed the worry from his mind and pushed his group forward. Ahead, someone in a mechanic’s jumpsuit exited a room and blinked up at the emergency lights, then saw their group. 

Lance swung his gun around to aim, but Krolia was already rushing past him, fluid as silk. Her leg shot out and she knocked the mechanic down and wrestled him into submission before he could even open his mouth. 

Rey’un gave Lance a smile full of teeth. “Aren’t you happy to be a part of her family?” 

Lance ignored her and opened the door the mechanic came out of. “Boiler room. Moving on.” 

They turned a corner and found the stairwell. “Alright.” Lance murmured. “Pidge, take Rey’un and Krolia upstairs and look for a control room. Hunk and I will go down. The scans say this building goes a few floors below the surface, and if Trinity built this similar to that other base Keith will be on the lowest level.” 

“Got it.”

“Vero, find a set of stairs and head down. We’ll meet up when we can. Shoot any hostiles on sight.” 

“See you soon.” 

They split up and Hunk and Lance quickly headed down the steps. They saw a figure in a long yellow priest’s robe, and Lance slid down the railing to slam the butt of his gun into his temple. The priest stepped back, dizzy, and Lance repeated the motion so that he crumpled. 

Hunk rose an eyebrow at him. 

“What? I wasn’t going to shoot him. He’s a priest.” 

Hunk shook his head and stomped down the stairs. “Glad we’re drawing the line somewhere.” 

“I’ll shoot the next one if it makes you feel better.” 

“It won’t, but thanks.”

They made it to the bottom of the stairs without seeing anyone else, but there was commotion on the other side of the door. Lance paused with his hand on the handle. “Ready?”

Hunk took a deep breath. “Not dying today. Getting Keith back, and not dying.” 

“You got it, buddy.” 

Lance threw open the door and charged into the hallway, catching the first few by surprise and they crumpled at his feet. He had attracted attention. He reached for Keith’s knife and swung up at the body charging at him, yellow priest robes be damned. Behind him, Hunk laid out covering fire. 

The Trinity members suddenly seemed to find their weapons, forcing Lance to duck behind an open door for cover. Hunk slammed into the wall next to him. 

“Rachel! Veronica! Where are you?” 

Rachel’s voice crackled over the comms, “Door’s jammed. We’re finding another way in.”

“Well hurry, or we’re fucked.” 

“Stardust, we can send you reinforcements.” Triste offered. 

“Not yet. Pidge, have you taken the control room yet?” 

There was no response. 

“Pidge! Come in!” 

There was a sold  _ thwack  _ over the comms, and Pidge’s breathless voice, “Sorry, they put up a better fight than we thought.” 

“Yeah, we’re getting that too.” Hunk grunted as a laser beam went right through the door they were hiding behind. 

“Pidge, you need to tell us where to go from here.” Lance breathed. 

“Keith’s going to be on the other end of the compound, but you need help now. Go in the door across from you.” 

“Why?”

“It’s a surprise.”

Lance rolled his eyes, but shot blindly as he and Hunk crossed the hall and threw themselves inside. They were greeted with a warm bark. 

“Kosmo!” Lance gasped. 

Kosmo barked at him again, wagging his tail in spite of his tiny cage and sorry state. His fur was matted and it looked like one of his fangs was missing. Lance rushed forward to open the cage. As soon as the door opened, Kosmo lunged at him and knocked him onto the floor. 

“Hey, buddy.” Lance laughed as Kosmo licked his neck and face. Lance reached up and unhooked the bulky electronic collar from his throat, wincing when he saw the blood on the contact points. “Hey. Yes, it’s so good to see you too.” 

“Uh, Lance? Bud? Still a bunch of religious fanatics outside.” 

Lance stopped hugging the enormous ball of dank-smelling fur and pulled himself up. He continued to speak in his dogs-and-kitties voice as he scratched under Kosmo’s chin, “Do you want revenge? Do you want to take revenge on the bad priests? Yes you do! Oh, yes you do!” 

Hunk shook his head. 

“Come on, Kosmo! Come on!” 

Lance opened the door and Kosmo bounded through, pouncing on the nearest Trinity member with a gun. The air in the hallway was thick with laser fire and Lance peered around the door frame. 

“Pidge? Where did you say the cells were?” Lance asked.

“Other side of the compound. Can you fight your way through?” 

Lance grimaced. “No, but I’ve got an idea. Triste, everything alright outside?” 

“Yeah, all calm.”

“Good. Take Gold Team and come inside. Rendez-vous with Pidge and head to the location of the leaders.” 

“Got it.” 

“Kosmo, come here!” Lance ordered. 

Kosmo bounded over and Lance grabbed his fur. Hunk quickly caught on and followed suit. 

“Alright, Kosmo. Take us to Keith.” 

The world cracked blue, then white, then their surroundings rematerialized. This end of the compound was quiet, for now. They were looking at a solid grey door with a tiny window of reinforced glass. Lance peered through and almost inhaled his tongue when he saw the dark lump in the corner. 

“Pidge, open Door 476, now.” Lance ordered. 

There was a click and a pneumatic hiss as the door popped open. Lance threw the door wide and charged in, trying to restrain himself from smothering Keith. He fell to his knees and reached forward to brush long black hair out of a pale face. 

“Keith.” he breathed. 

Keith stirred, nuzzling the hand that brushed his cheek. “Lance.”

Lance glanced at Hunk, keeping watch at the door. “Do you see a key-chip anywhere? For handcuffs?” 

“No. Pidge, can you do it remotely?”

“Let me check.” 

While she typed, Lance looked over Keith and pulled a water pouch from his belt. His left eye was purple and swollen shut, a bit of blood had dried at the corner of his mouth. Lance could see under the handcuffs was red and raw, his knuckles were bloody, his fingers didn’t look like they were lining up properly. Kosmo was licking his fingers insistently, and it seemed to make Keith wake up a little more. 

“You came for me.” Keith muttered. 

“Of course I did, idiot.” Lance whispered, holding the water to his lips. “I’d never stop looking for you.” 

While Keith drank, Lance straightened up and turned his comms back on. The battle was only half over. “All teams come in, we’ve got him.” 

A few cheers went up. 

“Triste, how far in are you?” 

“Rendez-vous with Pidge, Krolia and Rey’un now.” 

“Good. Rey’un, stay with Pidge to protect her.” 

“We know the plan, Lance. You made us all recite it backwards a hundred times.” 

The manacles fell off Keith’s wrists and onto the floor. Lance turned his attention back to him and gently took his hand. Kosmo whimpered and put his head on his lap. 

“Can you stand?” 

Keith nodded, letting out a shaky breath and flexing his wrists. “Give me a minute. The cuffs had a...dermal sedative. Keep me down.” 

“If that were true, you wouldn’t be so beat up.” 

Keith smiled slightly. “This is the third set they’ve tried.” 

Lance sighed and glanced at Hunk, then cupped Keith’s cheek again. “Injury report?” 

“I’m fine, Lance.” 

“Keith. Report.” 

Keith took a short breath. “Broken ribs. And finger. Black eye. My stomach is basically a purple mess.” 

Lance grimaced and delicately pushed hair out of his face. “Surprised it’s not worse, to be honest.” 

“They didn’t want to fuck me up too bad.” Keith winced as he tried to sit straighter. “Gotta be in good condition if I’m gonna be a living god.” 

“You’re already a living god, babe.” 

Pidge groaned over the comms. “Hunk, make them stop.” 

“I can’t. It’s actually kind of sweet.” 

Lance helped Keith stand, then handed him his knife. Now that he had Keith standing there, the worry he had been carrying around for days dissipated and for a moment he felt relief. Keith was here. He wasn’t...well, he wasn’t completely fine but he was standing. His one open eye was clouded with pain but his knife was extending out into a sword. He took a spare set of comms from Hunk and greeted everyone on the channel. 

Then the relief was washed away by anger. How dare they try to take Keith from him? Change him into something else? Who the hell did these people think they were? 

“Lance, your sisters are here.” 

Lance looked over to see his sisters peering into the cell. Acxa pushed past them and stopped short of giving Keith a hug. Griffin took up a guard post in the hallway. Kosmo stayed close to Keith, leaning slightly on his legs as if holding him up. His breaths are short, and maybe his ribs are bothering him more than he’s letting on. 

Lance turned his attention to his anger and the mission again. 

“Triste, what’s your status?” 

“Leaders are split up. We should be coming up on them now.” 

“Great. Pidge, any movement?” 

“Uh, yeah. The peons figured out where you are and are converging on your location. Looks like you’ll have to fight your way out.” 

“Great. Rey’un, get yourself and Pidge out of there. Protecting Pidge is your number one priority.” 

“Roger that.” 

“Lance, I can still help from here.” Pidge protested. 

“Yeah, well, Tig can thank me when you get home in one piece. Unlock all the doors and then trash the room so they can’t lock us in here.” 

Keith frowned slightly. “Who’s Tig?” he mouthed.

Lance shook his head. “Got it, Pidge?”

“Affirmative.” she sighed. “Unlocking doors now.” 

“Everyone get ready to move.” 

Keith reached over and took Lance’s hand. Keith never liked knotting their fingers together, he prefered to wrap around the meat of Lance’s hand. Steady, reassuring. 

“You look tired.” Keith said. 

“Yeah, well, it was a rough couple of days.” Lance muttered. “Not as bad as yours, I’d bet.” 

Keith smiled and stepped closer. “You raised an army.” 

“They’re here for you.” 

“Maybe. But you lead them.” 

Keith stepped closer and Lance gently moved an arm around his waist, trying his best to not touch anything that could possibly have a bruise or be broken. Keith pressed his forehead into the crook of his neck.

“I’m sorry.” he muttered. “I don’t want - “

“Keith, let’s talk about this once we’re out of here, alright?” Lance glanced quickly at their friends, who had taken up positions in the hallway and were getting ready to move. Lance pressed a quick kiss to Keith’s lips and pulled away, aching for more. “Come on. Can you fight?” 

Keith grimaced. “I’ve been in worse shape.” 

“Not an answer, but fine.” Lance kept his hand wrapped around Keiths as he put space between them. “Come on, the sooner you see a hospital bed the better I’ll feel.” 

“Lance, we’re ready to move.” Veronica said. “Keith, good to see you in one piece.” 

“Let’s go.” Lance said. “Rachel, Griffin, take point. Hunk, you stay on rear guard.”

They barely made it down the hallway before running into Trinity members who were looking for them. Veronica quickly fired off a few shots, which only drew attention. Soon the hallway was being flooded with hostiles, and while Griffin and Veronica dug in to hold their position, the way they were trained to, Keith and Rachel bounded ahead. 

Trinity was falling back quickly, hardly a match for the group. Veronica led them back the way she, Griffin and Rachel had come in. When they were just feet from the door, Triste’s voice crackled over the comms. 

“Stardust, we have the leaders. What are your orders?” 

“Same as everyone’s.” Lance snarled. “Shoot hostiles on sight.” 

“Lance.” Hunk said sharply. 

“Lance, what?” Lance demanded glaring at Hunk. 

A priest in yellow robes launched at them, a howl emitting from the tentacles around his mouth. Lance deflected him with an elbow to the diaphragm, then swung his gun out to follow up with a shot to the head. 

“Lance, don’t hurt the miserable lowlifes that kidnapped and tortured your boyfriend? Or are we back on, Lance, I’m sure Keith’s fine and there’s nothing wrong.” Lance seethed. “What would you do if they took Shay? Or your kid? You want to tell me you’d just let it go?” 

“We can arrest them.” Veronica suggested quietly. 

Lance watched Keith as he leaned against a wall, trying to catch his breath in short bursts. Kosmo whimpered and sniffed his hand. 

“This isn’t like you, Lance.” Rachel said gently. “Let’s just...come on, let’s get out of here. Keith needs a med bay, and you need sleep. You’re clearly not thinking straight.”

Lance let out a growl of frustration. “Triste, stand down. Tag and bag. Rashktha, get a transport planetside to help. And get a message to Coran. We’ll need a doctor as soon as we get to New Altea.” 

“Heard.” 

Silence. 

“Rashktha? Come in?” 

“So, slight problem. Possibly.” Rashktha’s voice came over the channel. “Uhm, so, the Atlas showed up and we got boarded…”

“God fucking damn it.” Rachel growled. “I better get my ship back.” 

“So long as all the paperwork is in order, there’s nothing for us to take.” Shiro’s voice came. “Veronica, status report.” 

Veronica grimaced at her siblings. “We have Keith, sir. Hostiles are being arrested as we speak. We’re awaiting extraction.” 

“Keith. Glad you’re safe.” 

“Yeah, me too.” Keith muttered. 

Lance fought the urge to kick the stirring Trinity member near him in the head. Instead he stepped over them to Keith, and put an arm around him. 

“Come on. Let’s get out of here.” 

~*~

Where did you go as the lights went black?

Look whats become of me

I've grown to love your disappearing acts

Do one more pretty please

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIVE! TAKE THAT DEPRESSION MONSTER! AND THAT, WRITER'S BLOCK! 
> 
> Sorry for the wait everyone. I swear, I'm working on the final chapter now. 
> 
> But yay! They found Keith!


	6. And to tell you the truth I lost my faith in you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You stole a Garrison ship!” Shiro retorted. “Essentially kidnapped one of our officers. And if Hunk and your sisters hadn’t talked you down you would have ordered the murdering of twenty religious leaders.” 
> 
> “You mean fanatics who were involved in child slavery and who kidnapped and murdered like five innocent civilians before attacking Keith with black market technology. And put Kosmo in a cage!” Lance scowled at him. “Besides, you’re the one who sent me help.” 
> 
> “I didn’t think you’d use it to launch an invasion of a religious moon!”

“Just what, exactly, were you thinking?” 

Lance has no idea how he manages to do it, but it seems like he incurs the wrath of zen-master Shiro more than literally anyone else, including actual enemies. Still, it makes Lance straighten up and turn away from where Krolia was looking her son over on the Atlas flight deck. 

Shiro looks pretty calm, all things considered. Even if his voice is hard enough to cut steel. 

“I found Keith.” Lance said stubbornly. 

“You stole a Garrison ship!” Shiro retorted. “Essentially kidnapped one of our officers. And if Hunk and your sisters hadn’t talked you down you would have ordered the murdering of twenty religious leaders.” 

“You mean fanatics who were involved in child slavery and who kidnapped and murdered like five innocent civilians before attacking Keith with black market technology. And put Kosmo in a cage!” Lance scowled at him. “Besides, you’re the one who sent me help.” 

“I didn’t think you’d use it to launch an invasion of a religious moon!” 

“What was I supposed to do? Sit around and wait for you to get here! You didn’t believe that Keith was missing! You’re too wrapped up in your home life, and it’s great Shiro, I’m so happy for you and Curtis. But you can’t pretend that you can keep your life the same as it was and be the same commander you were. You’re obviously making bad judgement calls.” 

“Yes, clearly, I’m the one making bad calls here.” 

“Keith was missing!” Lance yelled. “And you didn’t believe me! You didn’t even pay attention! I did what had to be done!” 

“You could have gotten everyone killed!” 

“Yeah, well, in case you haven’t noticed, I didn’t. Because I’m actually kind of good at this shit.” 

“Guys, stop.” Keith protested, stepping between them. He was still leaning on Kosmo for support. “Look, it’s over now, okay? I’m fine.” 

“You can barely stand.” Lance snapped. “And maybe, if someone had been thinking straight, I could have gotten to you sooner.”

“Keith, I’m glad you’re okay.” Shiro said steadily. “But jumping the gun and running off into space without a plan could have made everything worse. And it takes an  _ experienced  _ leader to know that.” 

“Well, maybe the experienced leader needs to decide if he’d rather do his job or focus on his family.” Lance spat, wounded. “Because obviously, when he’s trying to do both, he can’t do shit.” 

Lance could see the vein throbbing in Shiro’s temple. Good. 

“Are you saying something about my parenting?” Shiro asked in a dangerously calm tone.

“I’m saying you’ve been a shitty brother.” 

“Alright, that’s enough.” Pidge decided, getting between them herself now. “Lance, you’re worked up and running on coffee and the literal idea of sleep. Shut up before you say something you regret, if you haven’t already. Shiro, Lance did a good job and you know it. And if you want to yell at anyone, yell at me for convincing him to steal the ship in the first place.”

Shiro’s mouth opened slightly, then snapped shut. 

“Keith, come on. Let’s get you to the med bay.” 

Keith let himself be led off by Pidge and Krolia, with Kosmo dogging his steps. Hunk nervously watched Lance and Shiro glare at each other. 

Finally, Coran stepped up out of the shadows. 

“Alright, Lance, m’boy. That’s enough.” he said gently. 

Lance huffed and looked away. 

“Come. It seems that Keith’s not the only one in need of a medical bay.” 

“I’m fine.”

“That’s not what my scans say.” Coran gently put an arm around his shoulders and led him after Keith. “I’m surprised you’re still standing.” 

Lance scowled. “Can I stay near Keith?” 

“I’m going to put you in a room right next to his.” 

“I want - “

“Lance.” Coran said gently. “You need to rest.” 

Rachel approached Lance’s other side and took his hand, like she did when they were little. Behind them, Veronica approached Shiro and said something about giving her report in a clipped voice. 

“Come on, Lance.” Rachel whispered. “It’s over. Keith is safe. It’s time to rest.” 

Lance nodded and let himself be led away, to an elevator and down several hallways before reaching the med bay. Through a window, he could see Keith already asleep as a medical officer started to bandage him up. 

As promised, Coran led him to the room right next door. Rachel patiently waited outside as Lance changed into loose, soft clothes and Coran shuffled him into his bed. Rachel took up a seat at his bedside and took his hand again, and Coran set about hooking Lance up to a bag of saline to rehydrate him. 

“You did good today.” Rachel reassured quietly. “But now it’s time to rest.” 

Veronica entered the room and stood next to Rachel. Her eyes looked sad. “He didn’t mean it, Lance. He’s just as scared as you.” 

Lance fought to keep his eyes open. 

“You’ll feel better when you wake up, m’boy.” Coran said gently. “Time to sleep now.” 

Lance tried to squeeze Rachel’s hand, but he didn’t think he was doing it right. Now that he was laying down, and comfortable, and Keith was safe in the next room, sleep was stretching out with its black fingers to close his eyes. 

“Don’t leave till I wake up.” Lance yawned. “I have to...have to threaten Griffin.” 

Veronica snorted and Rachel squeezed his hand back. “Yeah. Of course.” 

Sleep dragged him under, a bottomless black abyss. 

But not forever. 

When Lance woke up, all the lights were off save the yellow glow of a recessed strip around his headboard. His sisters were gone, but Coran was asleep on the couch against the wall. 

Good old Coran. Lance should have called him as soon as Keith disappeared. He would have had a ship, or a plan, or something. Now that he was awake and Shiro’s words were rattling around his head, there were so many things he could have done differently. 

He won, in the end. But he had gone to a dark, scary place to reach it. Just like he had promised Hunk he would. 

Lance sat up a little straighter and undid the micro-needle cuff on his arm, detaching himself from the saline drip. He swung his feet out of the bed and slid down onto the freezing metal floor with a wince. He looked around for slippers and scowled when he came up short, but left his room anyway. 

He made his way into the next room, where Keith slept propped up on pillows. Kosmo was sprawled on the couch, his nose and legs twitching with a fevered dream. Keith had his own microneedle cuff, and two of his fingers were taped to a splint. A wire snaked down the front of his loose cotton shirt, and some sort of green salve was covering the bruise on his eye. It looked like it had been applied to his chest and stomach too, because his shirt was sticking to it. 

Lance found a chair and pulled it over to the bedside, sitting and taking Keith’s good hand in his own. 

So many things he could have done differently. He could have waited for Shiro to come around. He could have gone through proper channels. He could have told Krolia he needed help now, used her resources instead of dragging his friends and his sisters into this mess. 

Keith’s bruises looked more sinister in the half-light. For all his talk about understanding how the dark edges of the universe worked, he was still at a loss as to why Trinity would take Keith. Pidge had explained it, and maybe it made sense on paper. But why go through all the trouble of taking someone like Keith? Someone high profile, someone who would instantly be missed? 

Keith’s face twitched, and then his brow furrowed then relaxed. His good eye fluttered open and shifted around the room, and Lance saw the moment he saw him and relaxed. He let out a sigh and sank back into the pillows again. 

“Lance.” he breathed. 

Lance smiled and scooted a little closer. “Hey, babe. How do you feel?” 

“Mmmm...like air.” Keith smiled back. “I think they gave me the good stuff.” 

Lance chuckled and squeezed his hand. “I should hope so.” 

They sat in silence for a moment. 

“I missed you.” Lance mumbled, moving Keith’s hand up to trap it against his face. “God, I just...all I wanted was to keep you safe, and then you were gone, and I...we had that fight and no one believed me.”

“I missed you too.” Keith said, stroking the blue mark on his cheek with his thumb. “I’m sorry. I never should have pushed you.” 

Lance let out a strangled laugh. “That’s hardly important now.” 

“Isn’t it?” Keith straightened up and winced, shaking his head as if he could clear it. “You shine out here, Lance. All the little jobs we do and people we help, you fit in with Rachel’s crew, and Rashktha’s. I never meant to...take you from that.” 

“You’re not taking me from anything.” 

“I just...wanted to give you what you wanted. And I was wrong.” 

“You weren’t wrong.” Lance tipped his head further into Keith’s hand. “I want those things. I want a house, or apartment, something that’s ours that we can put all the crap we’ve collected in. I want a restaurant that’s our place, where they know us by name and let us sit around for hours to read the holo-papers and drink coffee. And I want to marry you. I want to throw a big party and announce to all our friends that we’re stuck together forever.” 

Keith was frowning. “But you don’t want those things right now.” 

“I don’t want those things on Earth.” Lance corrected. “I just...we’re not the same people we were. And Earth just always feels like...we’re being held back. So is New Altea and the Garrison and everywhere we’ve already lived. Everyone has these expectations that we’re going to do the right thing and be good soldiers and maybe it’s just not who we are anymore. If we were ever that in the first place.” 

“So what do you want to do then?” 

“I want you to get better. And then I want to furnish the ship I got from Nyma. And then we’re going on vacation, and we’ll start to think about where we want to live.” 

Keith smiled. “Sounds like a plan. Any ideas?”

“Well, there’s a call for settlers on Corithis.”

“Hmm. Close to your sister.” 

“And Eros Station. It might be a good place for us.” 

“Terringer is nice, too. Lots of open space.”

“We could have a garden.”

“Mmm.”

Lance leaned in closer. “I want to kiss you.” 

“So why don’t you?” 

“Don’t want to hurt you.” 

“Even if you could hurt me, I’m on some pretty good painkillers.” 

Lance smiled and half stood to reach him, and when they kissed it felt like a piece of him slid back into place. It had been over a week since Lance had mocked Keith with a fish-face and demanded a kiss, and Lance had stolen a kiss on Iritas but it wasn’t the same. That was the equivalent of pinching his leg to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

This. This was real. Real as the flakes of skin peeling off Keith’s lips and the patchouli smell of the paste covering his bruises. 

When he pulled away, Lance pushed hair out of his eyes. 

“Stay with me?” Keith breathed. “Sleep here?” 

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Lance repeated. 

“I don’t care.” 

Keith scooted himself over as far as he could to the right side of the bed and looked expectantly at Lance. Lance sighed and shook his head, but crawled into the narrow space. He turned himself onto his side so he could look at Keith, who turned his head to look at him. Lance wanted to wrap himself in Keith's limbs and settle in his chest, but he knew distance was needed right now. He couldn't risk hurting Keith more than he already was.

“I have a ring.” 

“I know.” 

Shock flashed across Keith’s face. 

“The video feed. The one that always recorded our old ship. I was hoping to see who took you. Just saw you talking to Kosmo instead.” 

“They took it from me.” 

“It’s long gone now. They stripped down the old ship for parts.” Lance leaned forward and pushed their foreheads together. “It’s alright. We’ll get new ones. After our vacation.” 

“And you got a new ship?”

“Mhmm. A Red Sun Dragonfly class. Pidge hates it, but it flies like a dream, Keith. You’re going to love it.” 

“And you saw Nyma?”

“Bought the ship from her. Well, I tried to, and then she tried to rip me off, and then Hunk made me pay her but I took out an inconvenience fee.” Lance sighed and kissed him again. “I love you so much.” 

“I know. I love you too.” 

“I missed you. I thought...well, I knew you weren’t dead. I thought for a minute that...you left. Everyone was right and you left.” 

“I told you I wouldn’t leave. Not again.” 

“I know. But I couldn’t help it.” Lance let himself relax and closed his eyes. “You know how I get.” 

“I know.” Lance felt Keith’s lips at the corner of his own. “I know.”

And that’s the wonderful thing, isn’t it? Keith knows what it means when Lance stares blankly into space, he knows it’s best to leave him alone when he slinks off to find some forgotten space. He knows the proper amount of time to leave him to brood and think before coming to find him. He knows that if Lance has a migraine, it usually means he’s just hungry, which is something Lance usually forgets about himself, and that even in unbearable heat Lance will try to cuddle him at night. He knows all his flaws, every insecurity, and loves him in spite of all of it. 

Patience was never a virtue Lance thought he had needed in a partner, and when they were younger it was not one that Keith had often demonstrated. But maybe Hunk had been right all along. Maybe they had both needed all the time and heartbreak to grow up and be right for eachother. For Keith to be patient, and for Lance to understand how much better that was than what delusions of youth had wanted. 

“And then I thought...well, I thought things would be a lot worse. I thought they’d really hurt you, or brainwash you, or do something and I’d never be able to fix it.”

“But you found me. Hey, look at me.”

Lance opened his eyes and looked into Keith’s face. 

“You came and found me. You raised an army and you came for me. Rescued me. Days before they were going to put that god or whatever in me. Or just, electrocute me. A lot. And we’re...well, a little worse for the wear. But we’re here. Together. And that’s enough.” 

Lance smiled slightly, remembering a quote from a book Rachel had loved. “Forever and ever, and that’s enough.” 

“Go to sleep.” Keith murmured. “You look like you haven’t slept in days.” 

“I was too worried about you.” Lance closed his eyes. “Shiro’s so mad.”

“No, he’s not.”

“Pretty sure he is, babe. The kind where he will not give me your hand in marriage.” 

“First of all, not how that works. Second, he’s not mad. He’s just...you led a small army to rescue me. You have no idea how...I always knew you had it in you. And it was just...mind blowing to watch you.”

Lance grinned. “Mind blowingly hot?”

Lance kept his eyes shut, but could imagine the  _ done  _ look on his boyfriend's face as he deadpanned, “Sure.” 

“Baaabe - “

“Yes, fine, unbelievably sexy. But for Shiro...well he’s probably just feeling guilty for not seeing it before. The leadership stuff, not the...whatever. And brushing you off, repeatedly.” Keith scooted closer and wafted patchouli before him. “He carries a ton of guilt around. Kind of his thing.” 

Lance sighed. “Probably shouldn’t have called him a shitty brother then, huh?”

“Mmm, and people think I’m the angry one.” 

“Sleep deprivation can do a number on you. No wonder Pidge has always had issues controlling her moods.” 

“What else happened? Tell me about your adventure.” 

“Hmm...we crashed Rashktha’s raiding party. Rescued some children. Went to Eros Station.” 

“Did you have hot pot?”

“Of course not.”

“Good.”

“Hunk and Shay are having a baby.” 

Keith smiled. “I guess we’ll have to make time to see them more often.”

“Of course we will. I need to beat you for that Godfather of the Year title. Gonna be the godfather to the cutest pile of rocks ever.”

“Pretty sure that’s racist.” 

“You’re high. Go to sleep.” 

“You’re the one talking about an adorable rock pile.”

Lance pressed a kiss to his lips, choking on patchouli. “Go to sleep.” he muttered. 

“You first.” 

Lance threaded their fingers together, the closest they could be while Keith’s ribs were so damaged. He dropped back off into a dreamless sleep. 

~*~

They returned to Earth overnight, and Coran decided Keith and Lance were both well enough to be discharged and finish recuperating at Lance’s family home. Well, Keith decided they were well enough and gave Coran a look that would dissolve any arguments. 

They settled back into the spare room they had been sharing before, giving Kosmo free rein of the farmland. Lance’s mother immediately made it her priority to keep Keith from doing any physical activity and staying as comfortable as possible. It was mostly a losing battle, and Mami did everything short of physically restraining her patient, but Keith did seem to heal faster than normal while he caught up on soap operas. And Keith acted like he hated it, but this was probably the first time in his life anyone had coddled him so Lance was pretty sure he was enjoying it.

Fortunately, Lance was not subject to the same treatment. As soon as he demonstrated the ability to sleep through the night and finish a full plate he was thrown back into the chore rotation. He didn’t mind though - his mind was still visiting dark places and what-ifs so he’d rather distract himself with manual labor. 

He picked flowers. Working in steady rows with his father and brothers, carefully cutting the stems, lifting the heavy buckets of flowers and water, loading the truck and unloading at the farmer’s market. 

Keith would join him at the market every morning, sitting under the pop-up tent, shielding his pale skin with a hat Lance forces on his head every morning. Lance chats with the customers and takes the money and tells himself he’s fine and not going stir crazy, and Keith sits and builds bouquets. Luis had taught him the basics a while ago, and he’s turned out to be pretty good at it. He always sets aside a small one for Lance. 

Around two, or earlier if they sold out, they’d pack up and head back home, and Keith would be force fed bone broth and daytime television while Lance worked on fixing up the interior of the ship. 

It was good to have the physical work to focus on, moving the furniture he had salvaged from Garrison storage lockers and discount lots. Bolting everything down so in the event the grav-drive dies it all will stay put. He ropes Marco into helping him put up walls over the beams and hull. Veronica stops by on her day off and helps him put down textured floors while Keith instructs Acxa in the finer points of telenovelas. 

He gets his god damn coffee maker, bolts it into the kitchenette counter, and then he buys another one. Because he’ll need it for when they have to furnish their actual house. 

Lance is spending a quiet afternoon painting. It’s the last thing he has to do before he can bring in the mattress and rugs and make it actually comfortable. He paints everything a soft grey, so that he can be colorful with the fabrics later. The hold, where he is now, is getting black paint to make it look bigger. 

“Need a hand?” 

Lance looked down from his ladder to see Shiro standing outside, squinting up through the sun. Lance lowered his paint roller slowly. 

“There’s a missing arm joke in there somewhere.”

Shiro rolled his eyes and waved the small bag in his floating arm. “Peace offering?”

Lance shrugged, but came down from the ladder. He gently set his roller in the paint tray and wiped his hands on a rag, and sat next to Shiro on the lip of the entrance. Shiro took two beers out of his bag and opened them before handing one over. Lance took a sip while Shiro stared at his own. 

“Where’s Curtis?” Lance asked. 

“With Allie and Keith.” Shiro smiled slightly. “Keith looks like he’s about to strangle your mother.” 

“Mmm...all part of his dissertation of the telenovela. The murder of the mother-in-law is a very important plot point.”

Shiro snorted and shook his head. 

It should be strange, sitting here with Shiro after their big blowout the other week. He should feel nervous, but he doesn’t. He and Shiro had gotten close over the years, even before he started dating Keith. They had a lot more in common than anyone thought. 

“I owe you an apology.” 

Lance shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I was...I’ll be the first to admit I went a little crazy.”

“I mean, yes. You did. But you...you found him. Came up with a plan, executed it. All without endangering a single civilian or losing a single solider. You’re a better leader than I ever gave you credit for, and I’m sorry. You did good, kid.” 

Lance sighed. “I could have not gone crazy.” 

“Yeah, well, you were looking for Keith. So, I understand it.” 

Lance took another long sip of his beer. Shiro finally drank some of his own. 

“Something’s bothering you.” Shiro said. “And I don’t think it’s me.” 

Lance grimaced. 

“Come on, we used to talk every week.” Shiro knocked his shoulder. “What’s wrong? You got Keith back. Your family is happy, your friends are happy. Hunk’s having a baby soon. Keith told me you’re thinking of settling somewhere.”

“God, there’s that word.” Lance grumbled. “Settling.” 

“Okay.” Shiro allowed. “How about...building a home. Building a home with Keith.” 

Lance considered. “I like that a lot better.” 

“It’s alright to be nervous about it.” 

“I’m not.” 

Shiro gave him a disbelieving look. 

“Okay, maybe a little, but...after...after Allura left...for a while I thought if she chose to leave over making me happy then everyone else probably thought that way too. It was dumb, I know, but I guess all along I just wanted her to put me first. And she never did. 

“And so I finally pulled myself out of it, I never thanked you for helping me so much back then, so, thank you. But when I did I put myself first. I did all the stuff I wanted to do. But it was still kind of lonely, even if I was with Rachel or Rivazi. 

“And then Keith came to find me. Even after you all told him not to. Even after I purposely made it difficult and told Rachel not to tell him unless he could give her a good reason to, he came and got me. He put me first, you know? Dropped everything to find me and to help me with my sister. He gave me what I wanted all along. And so when he went missing, I just knew. At the end of everything, even if we had just gotten in some big screaming match, he would never have just left. So then it was my turn to stop at nothing to go find him. 

“So, yeah. I should be scared about building a home and everything but...I don’t know. We’ve already been through so much. I think as long as we keep putting ourselves first we’ll be fine.” 

Lance finally stopped talking and looked at his feet skimming the grass below him. 

“What would you have done in her situation?” Shiro asked. 

Lance sighed. “I don’t know. I’d like to think I’d be like her, do the right thing, but if it came down to Keith or everyone else, I’d pick him every time. I know it makes me dangerous but...I guess I just want to give him the love I always wanted.” 

“Would you have done the same for her?” 

Lance shook his head. He doesn’t clarify if it’s because it’s an unfair question, he doesn’t know, or because he wouldn’t have done the same. 

They sat in silence for a while, drinking. 

“Do I want to know how you knew all those pirates?” 

Lance smiled. “Nope.” 

Shiro sighed and shook his head. “Just...look, can you just tell me that you’re doing good in the universe?” 

“Yeah. I like to think we are.” 

“That’s all I need to hear.” Shiro straightened up and looked at the hull. “Come on, we can finish this up and then head back for dinner. Your mom said she’s making costillitas.” 

“Oh, good.” Lance grumbled. “It’s been nothing but arroz con pollo all week. She’s probably only doing it cause you and Veronica are here.” 

They stood and headed inside the ship, and Lance found an extra paintbrush. They got to work and quietly drank their beers while they finished the interior of the cargo hold. When it was all done, they cleaned up the pallets and brushes, covered the paint cans, and Lance turned on the shield and left the door open so it could dry. They took the longer way back, walking along the rows of flower fields. Lance took out his pocket knife and helped Shiro cut a small bouquet for Allie. 

When they got inside, Keith was setting the table while Curtis chatted with Lance’s mother and bounced baby Allie on his hip. Shiro went to greet his family with a kiss while Lance snuck up behind Keith to hold his waist and kiss his neck while everyone else was otherwise distracted. 

“Hey.” Keith hummed. 

“Hey, no canoodling at the dinner table.” Luis snapped, smacking Lance on the back of the head as he walked by. 

“We’re not sitting at the table.” Lance protested. 

“Lance, don’t be rough with him he’s still healing!” Mami shouted as she finished cutting the ribs. “Luis, come here and take this to the table.” 

“‘M not a delicate flower.” Keith grumbled under his breath. 

Lance kissed the space behind his ear. “It’s okay, babe. We’ll be out of here soon.” 

“Lance, don’t forget I need you to help your father with the firepit for Friday.” Mami said, following Luis out of the kitchen with a bowl of beans and a bowl of slaw. 

“Why can’t Marco do it?” Lance grumbled. 

“Because it’s a party for your friends.” 

“You were the one who wanted to throw it!” 

This was true. When Mami found out Hunk and Shay were having a baby, she insisted on throwing their baby shower. 

“Ninos!” Mami hollered, ignoring him. “Estaban! Dinner!” 

Curtis was struggling to get Allie into an ancient high-chair. She was kicking her feet and whimpering, probably not far from an actual tantrum. Lance sighed and took the baby, quickly soothing her and successfully sliding her into the seat. 

“See? I told you.” Shiro whispered to Curtis. “Baby whisperer.” 

Lance’s family came into the room and everyone started to settle into their usual spots. Lance was uprooted by Mami, who insisted on sitting next to the baby, so he sat on Keith’s other side and kicked Rachel out of her usual chair. 

“I’ve missed having a baby around.” Mami defended, glaring pointedly at her children. 

“I already did my part.” Marco protested, pointing at his kids.

“Dibs on the gay card.” Lance said quickly. 

Veronica gaped at him. “You can’t...you can’t call dibs on that.” 

“Just did.” Lance slipped his hand in Keith’s under the table. “Start taking those prenatal vitamins, Vero.” 

“All of you need to be nicer to your mother.” Lance’s father said as he sat at the head of the table. 

“Rachel, will you be inviting that nice boy on Friday?” Mami asked. 

“Who?” she blinked. 

“The one with the hair.” 

“Yeah, Rachel.” Lance grinned, leaning into his twin’s personal space. “You gonna have Jimmy-James over to meet the parents? Hey, maybe you’ll pay off your baby-debt - OW! Mami! She hit me!” 

“Because you were being an ass!”

“Raquel Maria McClain! What have we said about language at the dinner table?” 

Curtis looked across the table at Keith. “Is it always like this?” 

Keith shrugged and helped himself to some ribs. “You get used to it.” 

Dinner was over quickly, which was good because Lance was tired. His arms hurt from painting for the last three solid days. When he saw Keith yawn, he completely took advantage and started herding him up the stairs for bed. 

“Leave room for the Holy Spirit!” Mami shouted after them, packing up cans of homemade baby food for Shiro and Curtis to take home. 

“Bit late for that!” Lance called back. 

“I mean it, Lance. He’s not completely healed yet - “ 

“I know, Mami, we’re careful, love you, thanks, goodnight.” 

“How long until the ship is ready?” Keith asked quietly. 

“Not soon enough.” 

~*~

Friday afternoon Lance sat at the splinter-y picnic table with a loose arm around Keith’s waist, casually observing Rachel introduce a very nervous James Griffin to her parents. Hunk and Shay were talking to their guests and handing out cake. 

“He looks like he’s about to fall over.” Veronica snickered, leaning against Acxa. 

“That’s because  _ someone _ ,” Keith gave Lance an amused smile, “put the fear of God into him about half an hour ago.”

Lance shrugged. “Just doing my brotherly duty.” 

“What did you say?” Acxa asked. 

“I’ll kill you if you hurt her.” Luis mocked in a high-pitched tone.

“No, I’m not a basic bitch.” Lance snorted. “I told him that if he hurts her, Rachel is more than capable of hurting him herself, and setting her crew on him. And only then would I get involved by systematically destroying his career.”

“Hell yeah.” Veronica agreed, high-fiving Lance. 

“Hmm, reminds me of what Marco told me when I started dating Luis.” Heather, Luis’ fiancee, sighed dreamily. “He told me he’s make sure my quilts wouldn’t even be used as rags in a refugee camp.” 

“Oh, so you’re all psychopaths then.” Keith smiled, reaching for an empanada from the plate in the middle of the table. “I thought it was just the girls.” 

Lance looked over. “Why? What did they do to you?”

“While you were sleeping in the morning after Shiro’s wedding, they sat me down and explained in detail how they would make sure no one in the known universe would speak to me or offer me work ever again.” 

Luis and Heather laughed. Lance put a hand over his heart, smiling at his sister. “You put aside your differences with Rachel to do that for me?” 

“Of course I did, baby bro. It’s tradition.” 

“Awh, you do love me. Almost makes up for the list of body parts you’d remove if I hurt Keith.” 

Keith looked at Veronica in shock. "You threatened him for me?"

"Someone had to look out for you." Heather grinned. "I helped with the list."

Lance nodded. "She made a very colorful and helpful poster."

“What did they tell you, babe?” Veronica asked, turning to Acxa. 

“Oh, they tried.” Acxa smiled. 

“Yeah, Acxa’s terrifying.” Luis said casually. “We didn’t get very far.” 

Lance spied Pidge heading into the house, probably for the bathroom, leaving Tig to fend for herself by the drink coolers. Tig was slender with dreads that she kept wrapped up in colorful scarves. Lance had bullied Pidge into taking Tig to meet him and Keith for waffles the Sunday before. 

“Wonder who will protect our poor sweet Pidge.” Lance said, nodding at Tig. 

“She has Matt.” Keith reminded. 

“You mean the human embodiment of a marshmallow?” 

“I mean, she is technically an honorary McClain.” Veronica shrugged. “I could come up with something frightening.” 

Keith stood. “I’ve got this.” 

“You sure, babe?” Lance asked. 

“Yeah. It’s my turn.” 

They watched Keith amble up to Tig and start up a conversation. Lance smiled and grabbed his own empanada as Hunk came over and took Keith’s vacated seat. 

“Hey, man.” Lance smiled. 

“Hey, buddy. Thanks again for doing this. My moms don’t have enough space and Shay’s family doesn’t really do baby showers.” 

“Hey, this one was one hundred percent my mom. The only thing I did was the firepit. I didn’t even do the flowers, Keith did them.” 

“They look great. I’ll have to thank him.”

“Yeah, he’s really good with color. I need to get him into painting.” 

“I guess this is the romantic Keith you were telling us about.” 

Lance smiled. “Told you he was real.” 

“When are you guys leaving?” 

“Sunday night. We’re going to head back to Eros and work with Rashktha for a bit. Then I think we’re going to buy some land on Terringer. Build a house. Have a vegetable garden.”

“Sounds nice.” 

“Yeah, I think so too.” 

“I’m happy for you.” 

Lance watched the terrified look develop on Tig’s face, while Keith calmly studied the beverage options in the cooler and said something they could’t hear. “Yeah. Me too.” 

~*~

Six months later, Lance sat in his new living room with a tablet propped up against a book on the coffee table. Pidge was sitting in her lab with her goggles pushed up on top of her head. Lance could see Tig reading something in the background and wearing an enormous pair of headphones. 

“How’s the new house?” 

“It’s nice.” Lance smiled. 

Pidge raised an eyebrow. “Just nice?” 

“Okay, I love it.” Lance gushed, sitting up straight and grabbing the tablet. “Come on, I’ll give you the tour.” 

“Ugh, vertigo.” 

It’s a small house. Two bedrooms, one of which they’re using as an office, a kitchen with a small table, and the living room. They had a large yard, and a shed which held gardening supplies and weapons. The walls had photos of their families, and friends, and the fridge was dedicated to photos of their god children. And Lance is really proud of it. It’s a place that he and Keith put together themselves. 

“I love the bookshelf.” Tig said, looking over Pidge’s shoulder. She had joined the tour about halfway through. “Where did you get that?” 

“This little moon in the Yessler system. I took Keith there for our vacation after getting him away from the Trinity.” Lance settled back into the couch. “They literally sing to the trees to grow them into the shape you want.”

“That is so cool.” 

“Pidge used to be able to do something like that.” 

“Babe!” 

Pidge let out an exasperated sigh. “Well, it wasn’t exactly like that. And I didn’t sing to them.” 

“I’ll bet the technology is incredible.” Tig hummed. 

“The Olkari perfected the marriage of nature and technology.” Pidge explained. “When their planet was destroyed, the knowledge survived in small pockets around the universe. One of my pet projects is collecting it. I’ll publish it all some day. Reiner, their leader, believed knowledge was meant to be shared.”

“Can I read it?” 

“Yeah, the filename is greenpeace.” 

Tig grinned and dropped a kiss on the top of Pidge’s head. Pidge flushed and Lance grinned. 

“Shut up.” Pidge muttered. 

“It’s just funny to see you like this.” Lance smiled. “But you’re happy?”

“Yes.” 

“She treats you right and respects your boundaries?” 

“Oh my God, Lance, you’re worse than Keith!” 

“Hey, it is our duty to protect you and put the fear of God into all serious partners.” 

“After Hunk’s baby shower, she asked me if Keith had been tested for sociopathy.” 

“He was, when he was eleven. Results were inconclusive.” 

Pidge shook her head. “Just keep him away from her for a while.” 

“Yeah, we’ll see you at Christmas.” Lance heard a noise outside and perked up. “Hey, Keith’s home, I should go.” 

“Oh, I wanted to say hi.” 

“Do you want to watch me ravish my fiance in the living room?” 

“Ew, no, thank you, bye.” 

“Love you Pidge! Bye Tig, I’ll give Keith a big kiss from you!” 

“What - “ 

Lance winked at Pidge and hung up just as Cosmo bounded through the front door, followed by Keith. Keith tossed his keys in the dish by the door and collapsed on the couch next to Lance. 

“Hey babe.” Lance hummed, kissing his temple. “How was Zerrod’s?” 

Zerrod was a local arms dealer who supplied Keith and Lance with items they needed when they had jobs. Keith had gone to see him today to get their body armour maintenance done. 

“Busy.” Keith grunted. “And there was traffic.” 

“Poor baby.” Lance pouted, kissing his face again. “Did you get the fertilizer?” 

Keith’s eyes shot open. “Shit.” 

“It’s alright.” Lance said quickly, wrapping arms around his shoulders as if it could keep him trapped there. “The garden can wait another day.” 

“This morning you were lecturing me about how the hydrangeas can’t possibly stay in their pots another day.” 

“I was grumpy at you.” Lance wiggled closer and nuzzled his neck. “Because you weren’t paying attention to me this morning.” 

“Hmm. Can you forgive me?” 

“I already have.” Lance kissed his lips this time and reached for his hand. “How long until we have to pick up the suits?” 

“He said he’d be done the day after tomorrow.” 

“Hmm. And then where are we off to?” 

“Shiro asked for our help, actually.” 

Lance straightened up. “Really?” 

“There’s a civil war on Trottenham IV. He wants us to go and assess the situation white he gets the troops together.” 

Lance frowned. “That’s a shame. Trottenham IV’s such a nice place. Family-friendly fun year round.” 

“Well, hopefully we can put a stop to it before it gets too bad.”

“He really wants us to go?”

“Yeah. Off-books. Just wants us to scope it out, not get involved or anything.” 

“Still. Guess he’s finally coming around.” 

Keith rolled his eyes and poked him in the stomach. “He trusts us. That’s why he asked.” 

Lance grabbed his other hand before he could get poked again. “Well, as long as we get everything planted before we have to leave, and the sprinklers working ok, we should be fine.” 

Keith smiled and relaxed. “Tomorrow?”

“Yeah, we can start tomorrow.” 

Lance knows that tomorrow, they’ll wake up in their double bed and he’ll kiss Keith good morning before getting up and making coffee. Keith will wander into the kitchen in time to eat and do dishes, and then they’ll do their gardening. They’ll spend the evening finishing up any research on Trottenham IV, and preparing for the trip, and then leave first thing the next morning. And it’s all their choice, their way, at their pace. 

Keith never got the ring back, the one that Trinity had taken from him, but he and Lance found suitable replacements. At least for now, they were engagement rings. And in the event they got around to getting married, they’d be replaced with wedding bands. Keith had the McClain claddagh ring, which had been passed down through generations of blue-eyed cuban pirates before landing with Lance. And Lance had Keith’s father’s wedding ring, which they were still not sure if it was actually a wedding ring or just a ring he wore after meeting Krolia. 

Lance had found a notebook filled with ring designs the other day when he was cleaning out the junk drawer in the kitchen. What scared him the most was the thought that the notebook didn’t scare him at all. 

Their choice, their way, at their pace. 

“I’m glad you weren’t turned into a living god.” Lance says instead. 

Keith snorted. “Yeah. Me too.” 

“Don’t think I’d survive a second partner achieving god-hood. And definitely not if it was you.” Lance planted a wet kiss in the crook of Keith’s neck, making him squirm. “So, you’re not allowed to get kidnapped again.” 

“I’ll see what I can do.” Keith deadpanned. “Movie before bed?” 

“Sure.” 

Keith pushed up off him and reached for the remote. Lance did his best to keep his hands to himself and wait patiently until Keith settled back down and flipped through the options. They certainly don’t look like a pair of mercenaries who are going to try to stop a civil war in a few days. Which is good, because their neighbors think they’re just a nice young couple who are starting a life and a garden together. 

“Hey. I love you.” Keith reminded, when he looked back at Lance. 

“I love you too.” Lance smiled. 

~*~

And to tell you the truth I lost my faith on you  
And these unspoken lies appear at the worst times  
They're hiding just behind your eyes

Where did you go as the lights went black?  
Look out, watch your heart attack  
I thought you might as well love to see  
You gotta stop sneaking up on me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done! Yay!!!! I'm sorry if the ending was a little weak - there was just so much I wanted to cram in there but the story was finished so...well, I hope you enjoyed it either way. 
> 
> So I know no one's really having an easy time of it right now - things are scary. The only way you can keep in touch with your friends and family is via phone. It's like being grounded but you're still allowed to use the computer and watch TV. I want everyone to know I am 100% here for you and sending good vibes. 
> 
> That said, us non-performing artists should be somewhat rejoicing in our isolation. That novel I've been trying to write for about five years? Well, no more excuses. Either I manage to get it done now, or it was never meant to be. I've actually already made some pretty good progress so I'm hopeful that this time I can actually get my first draft done. 
> 
> Who knows, maybe the real outcome of all of this, other than toppling our capitalist overlords, will be a resurgence of the arts. 
> 
> All of this said, you probably won't be hearing from me too much here. If an idea strikes me I may post stand alones, and I'll probably get around to finishing the Duality Project series at some point. But keep in touch! Isolation means I've been paying more attention to my tumblr (which is not the best blog you've ever seen but it's full of things I like) which can be found here - yourfavoritetsundere.tumblr.com
> 
> Stay calm, stay healthy.


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